


A Lesson in French

by Sandgoddess



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Never Met, M/M, Tsukki works in a photo place, and Kuroo is an ass, depends on your definition of slow, it's almost slow burn but not really, this is rated mature but it could change to explicit, u can now see i decided to go all kenhina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-09
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-05 19:36:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 118,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5387741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandgoddess/pseuds/Sandgoddess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Relationships could be fulfilling, life changing, amazing. For other people, of course they could.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ask for Kuroo

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is the first work I’m posting on here and I am SO. NERVOUS. I’ve only posted fanfic once before and I’m not sure if it was a smooth experience. Whatever. 
> 
> I just needed to make this little disclaimer before we start: English isn’t my first language, so please don’t be too harsh! If you see some dumb mistake somewhere, tell me nicely and I’ll fix it. I’m very glad to finally show you all what I’ve been working on! 
> 
> Let’s start :)

Getting up in the morning had never been much of a hassle for Tsukishima, but Saturday mornings tended to be a little more difficult than any other days of the week. Now that he was living on his own, he had to get money somehow, and that was what had pushed him to hand out resumes in every single store that seemed to be tempted to hire him if they needed someone. After a week of waiting to be called back, a small shop that he hadn’t thought much about at first contacted him for a job. It was a very small photo place where people could come and print pictures, take passport photos or order products like t-shirts and mugs with pictures printed on them. It was nice, paid minimum wage, and it wasn’t exhausting like a restaurant job would’ve been. Really, it was great. Except it was a disaster.

The dictionary’s definition of a disaster: an occurrence causing widespread destruction and distress; a catastrophe _or_ a grave misfortune. Yes, that was what it was. A disaster.

The morning of the disaster, Tsukishima woke up groggy, cold and upset. Normally, he didn’t give in to childish urges, but he went for a _five more minutes_ and pressed snooze on his phone. This was his second weekend working at the photo place and he already felt like he might’ve taken his free weekends for granted all summer.

He got up a little later than usual, but he still managed to get ready and look proper before he left to take the bus. His apartment wasn’t far away from one of the most crowded bus stop in the neighbourhood, so he quickened his step to make sure that, if he’d miss his bus because there were too many people taking it and he’d have to take the one after that, he still wouldn’t be late. People running into him wasn’t as irritating as it used to be when he first moved to Tokyo, since he was slowly getting used to it. He felt like this was something he should be recognized for, in all honesty.

He caught his bus on time and arrived to his work place 10 minutes before his shift started. His day started smoothly, he had an average of two clients every hour and that was just enough for him, because he had screens to clean and 35mm films to develop in the darkroom. As he was drying off some strings of film that were done developing, he heard the bell of the door ting. It was the first day that he was working on his own, so he couldn’t assume that someone else was going to take care of it and had to drop everything to go assist the client. He hung the pieces of film and put the undeveloped pellicles away in a closed box. Once he was back into the client area, he noticed someone standing at the self-serving machine who were scratching their head. Tsukishima assumed they needed help, so he walked up to the person to offer his assistance in the nicest way he could.

“Hi,” he started off simply, waiting for the client to turn around and look at him, or talk to him, anything.

He was rapidly acquainted with a strange smile and surveying eyes. Tsukishima backed off one step, his professional half-nice expression falling right off. “Hello”, the man answered as he kept smiling, his traits softer than they were seconds before.

The worker frowned, his eyebrows falling in line with the edge of his glasses. The client laughed, because apparently that was funny. “Did you need help?”

Tsukishima couldn’t have been colder if he had tried. “Guidance, maybe,” the black haired man answered, turning back to the machine after he stopped speaking. Tsukishima took the time he had while he was standing a step back to evaluate what kind of guy he was standing next to. Tall, but not taller than him. That would’ve been surprising anyway. His hair was dark and weirdly styled, or maybe it wasn’t styled at all. It was barely 10 o’clock in the morning on a weekend, after all.

But there was something about the way he was talking and the way he was standing that made Tsukishima uneasy. He figured he probably had that effect on people too. “Ok, what are you looking to do?”

The man scoffed at Tsukishima’s tone, brushing his bangs away from his face only to have it fall back in the exact same spot. He didn’t seem to mind it, so maybe that was just a nervous habit. “This picture, I have to get a copy of it for every member of my team. We pulled the short straw and I lost,” he ended with a face like this was the funniest thing in the world. Tsukishima only blinked at him.

“Alright,” the employee chanted in his most enthusiastic voice, “you’ll have to put it in the scanner there.”

Tsukishima guided the man through the process of scanning the picture and picking the quantities desired on the machine, which took a couple of minutes. After that, he was out the door and would only come back an hour later to get his printed pictures.

When Tsukishima launched the printing on the computer, he saw a preview of the picture on his screen. He hadn’t seen the picture before because the man had put it face down on the scanner before he could catch a glimpse of it. He wasn’t exactly curious, but he was able to see it now, so he looked at it. It was a picture of a sports team, as expected, but something caught his attention: the client with the crazy hair was standing in the middle of the picture, holding a volleyball. Of course it had to be a volleyball.

Tsukishima sighed as he walked around, waiting for the pictures to be chemically printed on the paper and end their journey inside the printer so he could look at them from up close. It was actually a rule that they weren’t allowed to look at client’s pictures unless they wanted them too and he hadn’t gotten an ok from Crazy Hair Guy, so technically he was doing something bad, but there was no one else there to know.

There was a total of 13 pictures, one for each team member, and they were all smiling wide, looking like they were all such good friends with each other. Tsukishima’s nose instinctually scrunched up.

 _Friends_ weren’t a foreign concept to him. He had Yamaguchi, who was even going to the same university as him now. Having your entire team as friends seemed like more of a hassle than a fun experience though, so he gazed at the pictures with disgust. In his attempt to find a good side in being in this many friendships, he sat down and studied the pictures with seriousness. They were from another university than him, probably a better one. Maybe they were just friends for the picture. Maybe they hated each other. That would make more sense.

Tsukishima remembered his 3 years at Karasuno high school as one big mess of unnecessary friendship. Like he had found out earlier, the only friend he had that was worth mentioning was Yamaguchi and he didn’t feel the need to call anyone else from that godforsaken team his friend. Hinata was ok at times, but he really wasn’t someone Tsukishima could stand on the long term. He didn’t even want to think about Kageyama, or Nishinoya. He would take ten Hinatas before he’d take one of these guys again.

No, being friends with all the guys from your team was impossible. It was gross, even. Of course, he had had moments of weakness where he softened up for some of his teammates, but he never considered them his friends.

The fraternity on the pictures almost ended up making him feel sick. Why was he still looking at them? He decided to put them away in an envelope and leave them on the counter where they belonged.

Tsukishima went back to his business in the darkroom only to hear the bell ring again 15 minutes later. When he came back, Crazy Hair Guy was standing next to the counter, laying an elbow on it. The worker picked up the envelope on his way and ringed up the total without saying anything.

“So,” the guy started suddenly, breaking the silence and making Tsukishima jump internally, “how did they look?”

“Oh,” Tsukishima replied as he frowned in surprise, “just fine. You can look, if you want.”

The client picked up the envelope and took out its content. He looked at the pictures for a while, smiling a little the whole time he did. “Familiar with volleyball?”

Tsukishima was definitely taken aback by that question. It had been a while since he had met someone who didn’t know that already. “Mmh, yeah. I played in high school.”

“Oh, really?” The man was quickly very interested. “Where you from? Maybe I played you once.”

“I doubt it. I’d remember you.”

The tone was final, probably a little weird too, but it seemed to shut him up. When Tsukishima thought he was finally free of the volleyball questions, he saw that there was a huge shit-eating grin on the guy’s face. “I think I’d remember you too, blondie.”

What on earth was this guy’s deal? Tsukishima wanted to call the police, or, no, the pound. “That’ll be a total of 1480 yen.”

The client hummed, grabbing his wallet from the back of his pants. He still had that satisfied smile on his lips. “Sure, whatever you say. Why won’t you come over to our gym one day? If you’re bored.”

Tsukishima took the money the man handed to him and placed it in his cash register. “I have very entertaining hobbies already, thank you.”

Crazy Hair Guy just laughed before he turned away and started leaving. “If you change your mind, just come and ask for Kuroo. I’ll fix it up for you.”

Tsukishima kept his mouth shut until the doors of the store closed behind the man. “No thanks,” he then breathed out angrily.

 

-

 

Kuroo Tetsurou had a weird feeling in his guts as he walked back to his place. Meeting new people wasn’t a rare thing for him, and this guy hadn’t exactly left a good first impression, so he was really at a loss. He decided to pay no mind to it and go on with his day without dwelling on it. He had the pictures he had promised his team a week ago and that was all that mattered.

 

He only lived 5 minutes away from the store, so it didn’t take him long to get back, change and catch a bus to go over to his university grounds. There was a practice starting at noon and he wanted to bring the pictures for everyone.


	2. Photo Album

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m doing this instead of my psychology essay you’re welcome.

Monday came back around way too soon for Tsukishima’s liking. He didn’t necessarily hate Mondays: he started school at noon, he didn’t have to go to work _and_ all his homework was done with for the day already. But still. Mondays were Mondays.

He showed up to school in a rush, powerwalking around campus to get to his class on time. Weirdly enough, he didn’t feel any panic, it was just a slow day and he accepted his fate. On his way to his department, he heard a group of girls shriek, and suddenly, a yellow ball with blue strikes passed a centimeter away from his face. He watched the ball bounce on the floor with a certain laziness, like it was deflated a bit. He then turned to the girls, who all looked like they were about to get on their knees and plead him to accept their forgiveness. There was 6 of them, and they were all in tight t-shirts and spandex shorts. Tsukishima saw a net behind them, then he noticed that they had no shoes on, and he _knew_. He excused himself before running to his class even though he didn’t want to rush too much originally.

He got to his class 5 minutes late, but he didn’t get a scowling, only weird looks from his classmates. Not that he cared.

 

-

 

Kuroo handed Kenma his phone as he danced on his feet a little bit, his expression strangely happy for a guy who was in the middle of morning practice. “Take a picture,” he told his friend with enthusiasm as he grabbed Bokuto by the neck and pulled him closer.

“Why in the world….” Kenma replied with disdain, holding the phone between his index and thumb like it was hazardous waste that could give him cancer.

Kuroo rolled his eyes and took his phone back from Kenma’s fingers, but he was still overly excited. “We’ll take a selfie then! You won’t be in my album,” he said as a treat. Kenma shrugged and walked away, refusing to even gaze at this childishness.

Bokuto didn’t mind, throwing peace signs and smiling way too wide for the picture. His face changed rapidly when the coach screamed at them to stop fooling around and get back to practice. Kuroo quickly put the phone away and dragged Bokuto back to the other side of the net to join the other members of their team. Kenma was nodding slightly when they joined him, but a micro-smile appeared on his lips when Kuroo shoved him playfully.

 

-

 

Tsukishima was walking around campus with Yamaguchi on a rather cold Friday morning. They weren’t talking much, but it wasn’t awkward. Yamaguchi seemed content with just walking around, looking at stuff and smiling at them once in a while too. When he thought something was beautiful, like a tree or a building, he always smiled at it. That sometimes made Tsukishima scoff and look at his feet.

“What, Tsukki?” Yamaguchi asked, smiling up at him instead of the trees.

The blond boy shrugged, shaking his head a little to dismiss the question. “What’s up with you? What are you so happy about?”

 Yamaguchi kept on his smile, but now he was looking in front of himself with an air of wonder on his face. “I guess I missed hanging out with you, I don’t know.”

Tsukishima wasn’t impressed, so he looked to the side and sighed a laugh. “We can hang out whenever you want, you know.”

“Yeah, I know, but you work now and I don’t want to take even more time from your studies.”

Tsukki scrunched up his nose and inhaled deeply. “Trust me, this job isn’t important enough for me to sacrifice what little social life I have.”

Yamaguchi had a short laugh, and he looked back up at his friend. “Alright, I’m keeping this in mind. Hey, there’s this new cartoon movie about dinosaurs that came out last week, would you want to go see that?”

Tsukishima had a little smile at that, but he shook his head no. “If I was 5, maybe.”

“Hey! It’s your social life we’re talking about here!”

 

-

 

After school ended at 4, Tsukishima took the bus to go to work. He got there 30 minutes later, so he took the time he had until 5 to grab something to eat and get started on some math homework. He could probably finish that while he worked. Evening shifts were always the least busy.

He sat for an hour at the front desk, alternating between texting his brother and finishing his homework, unbothered. The place was so dead that Tsukishima considered taking a nap in the dark room.

He occupied himself with a little bit of cleaning, and he had his first client of the night while he was vacuuming the computer fans. He looked up from where he was standing to look at the doors, but he still couldn’t see, so he switched the vacuum cleaner off and walked back to the front of the store.

“Hello again,” said a talking bed-head.

Tsukishima squinted, but he kept his professionalism. “Welcome back,” he said, trying not to be irritated too soon. That would come back later, he was sure of it.

“I am here,” Kuroo started in a loud and proud voice, “to make a photo album.” He looked soulful, and Tsukishima sighed at that bizarre nonsense. “Memories, you know?”

“Mmh,” the blond said as he walked away from the boy to the self-serve machines. “What size of pictures did you want to print?”

Kuroo seemed to think about it. As if he was actually making a freaking album. “I guess standard size?”

“I guess,” Tsukishima replied, tapping the buttons on the tactile screen. “And did you want that in one-hour service or express?”

“The cheapest option,” the older boy answered instantly.

“One-hour it is,” the worker whined as he pressed a couple other buttons. “On what sort of device are your pictures stored?”

Kuroo fetched something in his schoolbag and handed Tsukishima a small red rectangle. “USB.”

Tsukki looked at it for a second before he grabbed it and plugged it in the computer. The first 6 pictures on display were blurry shots of people with red cups in their hands. “Okay, I only need the last 10 pictures,” Kuroo spoke over Tsukishima’s shoulder, making the blond’s skin instantly shiver at the closeness and the warmth of Kuroo’s breath.

The employee ignored the strange reaction as he clicked on the _back_ arrow to switch to the last page. On there were pictures of Kuroo with various people, some that looked like they were okay with taking pictures, and others who did not seem to agree at all. Kuroo was smiling wide and bright on all of them. “I’m going to have to let you do the selection now, I’m not allowed to order the products for the clients.”

Tsukishima turned around to leave him the space, and when he looked at the man in front of him, he had a nervous half smile before stepping to the side. He’d curse himself for that every second of the next couple hours.

Kuroo walked forward and picked the pictures he wanted, smiling warmly at each of them. Tsukishima decided to look at Kuroo instead of the screen with the pictures, since he didn’t care for them. He didn’t care for that guy either, but he was more entertaining to watch. From where he stood, Kuroo wouldn’t notice anyway. The happiness exuding from him was just contagious enough to make Tsukki feel like he wasn’t going to spend the worst night of his life. He could’ve been watching _The Good Dinosaur_ right now if it wasn’t for this stupid job, but it was all kind of okay nonetheless.

“There, I’m done,” Kuroo said as he pressed the _order_ button and unplugged his flash drive. Two receipts came out of a little box next to the computer, and Tsukishima gave one to the customer and kept the other.

“Alright,” Tsukishima said as he started walking back to the employee section of the store, “your order will be ready in one hour, so around 7:30.”

Kuroo followed him until he had to stop in front of the counter. “And what will you do for an entire hour?”

“You’re aware that you’re not the only person that comes here, right?”

The black haired boy smiled a little evilly at that. “Oh, yes, I’m aware. I just don’t see anyone else right now.”

Tsukishima busied himself with starting the prints instead of paying too much attention to Kuroo. “I have some maintenance to do and books to read for school,” he replied coldly, not looking away from the one-hour order computer.

“Oh, you go to school? Where?”

 _Shit_. “Some university. That’s all you need to know.”

Kuroo raised his eyebrows but kept smiling, amused by Tsukki’s attitude. “Alright, grumpy glasses. I’ll come back in an hour to see if you’re still angry at me.”

“Do that,” Tsukishima replied with a sly smile as Kuroo walked out, carefully turned away from him so the older boy wouldn’t see.

 

-

 

As he had said, Kuroo showed up to the store an hour later, his lips already turned into a smile. Tsukishima, who was sitting on the counter with a book in his hand, jumped off of it and laid the book flat on the surface to keep the page. He fetched the picture envelope in a drawer and rang up the total without looking at Kuroo once. “Aw, you’re still mad,” the client said sarcastically.

“It’ll be 570 yen.”

“You’re really good at calling amounts of money passive-aggressively,” Kuroo exclaimed as he grabbed his wallet to get the money.

Tsukishima blinked slowly, naturally condescending. “That’s how I got the job,” he joked flatly.

“They’re lucky to have found such raw talent,” the black haired customer continued, failing to act serious. He put the money in Tsukishima’s hand and waited for the change.

Tsukishima scoffed when he looked down at the register to put in the cash and take away three 10 yen coins. “Alright, there you go,” he smirked as he handed Kuroo the money. The man took it with a soft but surprised expression on his face.

“Have a good night,” he teased quietly, keeping an incredulous smile on his lips.

Tsukishima turned around and went back to his book. “Mmh,” he finally grunted. Kuroo left with a laugh.

 

-

 

Saturday night, Yamaguchi texted Tsukishima to tell him that Hinata would come to visit him next weekend. Yamaguchi and Hinata were pretty good friends, and since the latter wanted to come to Tokyo, he would take advantage of his poor friend and crash in his dorm. Tsukishima had a mocking smile at the news before he wrote back saying that a guy told him he could go to their volleyball practices if he wanted, and that they could bring Hinata there to save them the _OH MY GOD I MISS VOLLEYBALL DO YOU GUYS WANT TO PLAY LET’S FIND SOMEWHERE TO PLAY_ all weekend. Yamaguchi replied with a single question mark. Tsukishima sent two question marks. Yamaguchi then asked who he was talking about. And Tsukki said _you don’t even wanna know_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to write one chapter each week, but they'll always be about this length (around 2000 words). I hope that's ok.  
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Just So We're Clear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok hi! Here is chapter three, happy holidays btw! I love you all, here is some gay shit.

Tsukishima had just started to get exams this week, so he was spending half his time studying, and the other half attending classes. He somehow found time to sleep and work some evening shifts in between that, but he could study at work so it wasn’t so bad.

Today was Friday, his first free day of the entire week, and he was up at 6 am. He had war flashbacks.

He had texted Hinata about the volleyball thing on Monday, and every day of the week, the ginger boy had found a new way to tell him how _FREAKING AWESOME_ this opportunity was. Tsukishima only read the texts, but he never replied, because he didn’t know how to.

He didn’t even know if he was allowed to do that. Sure, Kuroo had invited him, but he had never invited Hinata or Yamaguchi. Moreover, Kuroo didn’t look like he was his team’s captain, so he wasn’t one to make these decisions. But Tsukishima didn’t really care, because Kuroo would be the one getting in trouble in the end.

That’s what he kept saying over and over in his mind as he rode the bus with an over excited Hinata and an all-smiles Yamaguchi to Kuroo’s university. Tsukishima remembered which university it was from the sport’s team shirts, and he was very happy to have photographic memory because he would’ve completely _loathed_ to have to find Kuroo through facebook to ask him which university he attended.

Hinata had preferred to stand up, so he was holding on a metal pole swaying from left to right like he was going to explode. Tsukishima was watching him with amusement, but what his face conveyed was more of a derisive confusion. Hinata was one of the only people that really grew on Tsukishima enough for him to admit it, but the shorter boy was still a bit scared of his ex-teammate, since he knew him in all his lights. Tsukki didn’t blame him, but he trusted himself to be patient with that poor frightened child.

“What are we going to do once we get there?” Yamaguchi asked when they were about 5 minutes away from their destination.

Tsukishima turned to his friend who was sitting next to him on the bus seats. “Huh, actually, I don’t even know where the gymnasiums are, so I guess we’ll have to look around for them first.”

Hinata was shaking like a phone on vibrate. “I’ll find them! You guys just follow me,” he ended with wide, sparkling eyes, staring in the distance.

Tsukki smiled as he rolled his eyes at Yamaguchi who just laughed. “Of course, Hinata,” the freckled boy replied after turning to the short boy.

There were two other stops before they reached Kuroo’s university campus. Approximately 2 seconds after the vehicle braked in front of the bus stop, Hinata stormed out of it first, waiting for his friends outside with a big smile on his face. “Follow me,” he then yelled before walking toward the school buildings in a confident step.

They walked for a couple of minutes, Yamaguchi staring at birds and trees while Tsukishima looked around for a familiar bedhead, anticipating the moment he’d see him without really looking forward to it. After that, he was sure to see more of Kuroo at his workplace. He had just doomed himself.

He didn’t care, though. He was doing this for Hinata, he’d have a good time, and Yamaguchi could also play if he didn’t get too intimidated. They would both have a good time. He hoped.

Hinata yelled when he spotted the gyms, immediately running to them as he waved his arms in the air. Yamaguchi laughed at him as he also took in this direction, Tsukishima following suit. Hinata stopped at the door, fidgeting around while he waited for the other two. He didn’t want to burst in like a crazy intruder.

He heard the volleyballs hitting the floor and the _again!_ being shout right after. He heard shoes squeaking and hands hitting tosses and spikes. He was about to yell again _if they weren’t going to move their asses-_

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi joined a boiling Hinata some seconds later. Neither of them actually knew how to approach the situation. After a while, Tsukishima sighed loudly and just knocked on the gymnasium doors. They heard the activity in the gym suddenly stop, and a loud voice, probably the coach, say “Bokuto, go look.”

They waited for Bokuto in silence. Tsukishima knew what he was going to say.

The door slid open and yellowish brown eyes looked at them with curiosity. Bokuto didn’t seem to be hostile. “Yes?”

“Is Kuroo here?” Tsukishima answered a little bit fast, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible.

Bokuto blinked at him a couple of times, his curiosity still palpable, before he turned around and called “Bro, someone’s asking for you!”

Kuroo lifted his head from the volleyball he was holding to gaze at Bokuto with total incomprehension. He handed the ball to Kenma before he walked up to the door. Once he stood next to Bokuto, he looked at who was in front of him, but his eyes stayed stuck on Tsukishima the most. “Oh, grumpy glasses!”

Tsukishima sighed, taking a step back to take the spotlight off of him. “I know you said I was invited to train with your team, so I figured you wouldn’t refuse a little practice match with the help of my former teammates.”

Kuroo raised his eyebrows briefly, intrigued by the offer. “You guys don’t have volleyball at your schools, right?”

Hinata and Yamaguchi both nodded negatively while Tsukishima looked at his ginger friend who was making great efforts not to run in the gym and jump in the bag of volleyballs.  

“Well I guess that’s fine.” Kuroo turned around sharply, looking around for a bit to find the coach. “Hey, coach, we’ve got guys here who want to take us on. What do I say?”

The coach, a middle aged man with a strangely sympathetic face, turned his attention to Kuroo. “Do they play?”

“Well, they used to,” Kuroo answered before he went back to Tsukki and friends. “Which high school did you all go to?”

“Karasuno!” Hinata chanted proudly, making Kuroo smile at him.

“They used to be in Karasuno, sir,” Kuroo told his coach from afar.

The man didn’t even think twice about it. “Let them in,” he said as he headed back to the players practicing.

Kuroo frowned and stared at his coach with a weird surprised pout. “Seriously, just like that?”

“Kotarou, would you please let these kids in,” the coach sighed, and Bokuto obliged, clearing the way to the gymnasium. Hinata’s eyes were as wide as Tsukishima had ever seen them, and Yamaguchi had that little smile on his face that meant he was sort of overwhelmed, but still content. Without really noticing it, Tsukishima had started smiling sincerely at how happy his friends were, but he stopped abruptly when he saw that Kuroo was staring at him. When Tsukki walked past the older boy, he stopped briefly to look over his shoulder, asking him if he was following without really asking anything. Kuroo smirked and joined the blond.

“Just so we’re clear,” Tsukishima started when Kuroo was beside him, “I didn’t come here for you. Hinata, the short one, he’s being a constant pain in the ass with volleyball, so I thought bringing him here would shut him up for the weekend.”

Kuroo side eyed Tsukki before he looked away, smiling at nothing. “Of course, I understand.”

Tsukishima glared at Kuroo through half shut eyes, and the dark haired man refused to look his way.

“I’m guessing you’re gonna watch from the sidelines?” Kuroo sounded hopeful, but Tsukishima crushed his hopes instantly.

“Yeah, I won’t be playing.”

Kuroo looked at him now, his eyes serious and his smile gone. It was starting to freak Tsukishima out when they finally reached the gathering of players, so he hurried to Yamaguchi’s side with a strange frown on his face. Then, the coach simply said that they could make teams with whoever they wanted, and Tsukki walked off to sit on the bench next to the net. He watched as Kuroo wrapped one arm over Bokuto’s shoulders and grabbed a small boy with blond hair by the shirt to claim them. He then looked at Hinata and Yamaguchi and, with his two friends still in his grasp, he announced “I want the small orange one.”

Another player, probably the team captain since he had a big 1 on his shirt, then yelled “We’ll take the freckled one, then!”

Hinata was jumping around like a crazy person as he approached Kuroo and his very close team. When they asked him his name, Hinata pressed a thumb to his chest and announced loud and proud that he was Hinata Shouyou, and the boy Tsukishima didn’t know by name just went “Hi Shouyou” and Hinata glared at him like a surprised rodent.

Yamaguchi silently walked to his new team, his smile nervous but his stance confident. When they asked him his position, he replied “Pinch server” with conviction.

Tsukishima had a warm smile at that, and he watched the show go down with a certain satisfaction.

 

-

 

They were out of the gymnasium around 8 and on their way back to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi’s university not 5 minutes later. Hinata looked like he was floating and Yamaguchi kept smiling at him like a dumbass. They had played well, as they always did, and had both won a 25 points set with their respective teams.

As they rode back, Tsukishima couldn’t help but remember all the times Kuroo glanced at him from the sport’s field with a strange wonder in his eyes, like he wasn’t sure what to think. It wasn’t to the point that it was worrying, so Tsukki hadn’t really thought about it until now. Maybe he was just wondering what his damage was. That was what most people wanted to know.

 

-

 

It was Saturday morning, and Kuroo was in the gym with Kenma, putting the net and the poles back into the storage room. Bokuto had just left for the changing room, so they were alone in the gymnasium. Kenma put the folded net on the lowest shelf of the cupboard while Kuroo laid each pole next to the other against the wall. When they left the storage room, Kenma looked up at Kuroo, and his lips were slightly curved downward like he was nervous about something. When the older boy felt the eyes on him, he turned his head to share the stare.

“What?” Kuroo asked, a little laugh escaping his lips at Kenma’s expression.

His childhood friend suddenly averted his gaze, like he hadn’t been the first one staring. “I was wondering about yesterday,” he said in an emotionless, soft voice.

Kuroo smiled a little as he nodded, thinking that he probably should’ve seen this coming. “Be more precise about what you want to know.”

“Who were these people?”

Kuroo laughed at Kenma’s cold tone of voice. “The only one I know is the blond one. They were nice though, weren’t they?”

Kenma shrugged. “Shouyou was nice.”

“See?” Kuroo ruffled Kenma’s hair, and the younger boy whined a little. “I know meeting new people isn’t your forte, and I would’ve warned you if Glasses told me he was coming over with two friends.”

“I know,” Kenma simply replied as he pushed the door of the gymnasium to exit the building. Kuroo followed after him, and they started walking toward the changing room.

In the light of the sun, Kenma’s hair was shining like gold. He had dyed his roots a couple of months ago, and the black hair was starting to grow out again. Kuroo always liked Kenma’s hair, because he dyed it, but he still didn’t give a damn about it, which was funny to him. Walking behind Kenma quietly, he brought his hands up to the boy’s hair and left them there. Kenma flinched and dipped down to escape the hands, but Kuroo walked closer to him and laid his left cheek on top of Kenma’s head. He sighed loudly and Kuroo laughed, brushing his friend’s hair with his fingers.

“I’m all sweaty from practice,” Kenma whined when Kuroo rubbed his cheek on his hair.

“Your hair didn’t sweat,” Kuroo answered as he kept doing whatever he was doing.

Kenma had one hell of a pout on his face when Kuroo pulled out his phone and took a picture.


	4. Name Tag

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been busier this week than when I still had school. Sorry if this is late for you! I tried! Also sorry for not posting anything of all KuroTsuki week! I’m the worst.

Tsukishima almost woke up late on Saturday, but he remembered he was only working the afternoon shift just as he was walking out the door with a piece of toast between his teeth. He sighed strongly and slammed the door as he rushed back inside his apartment. His late studying was starting to wear on him, and his habit of waking up early was messing up with his internal clock. He finished his breakfast with his back against the door, looking down at the floor like a pouty child. He knew going back to sleep wasn’t an option, so he stayed there and sat down in front of the door with his phone in his hand. This was ridiculous, it was 9 am and he was already done with this entire stupid day.

He had one text and a couple of Facebook notifications, but he didn’t want to look at any of it. His glasses slipped off his nose, so he took them off and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

With his head resting on the door, Tsukishima closed his eyes and sighed. He stayed like that for a while, dozing off a little as he heard alarm clocks ring in other apartments. His phone suddenly vibrated in his hand, and he gasped as his eyes shot open. He cursed his nervousness and tried to calm down before he looked at his phone to see a text from his brother. He was asking Tsukki if he wanted their mom to keep frozen leftovers for him when he'd come visit for his summer break. It made him realise that, for the first time in 3 weeks, he missed home.

 

-

 

Kuroo woke up from a nap around 1 pm, still feeling worn out from that morning practice. A 7 am practice on a Saturday was just downright torture, but now at least he had all the pictures he wanted. The last time he printed pictures, he still needed one where he was alone with Kenma, and a couple others with groups of people that he had managed to get the day before.

He got out of bed all grumpy, thinking about the homework and the studying he still needed to do when he'd come back from the store. Lazily, he put on his Adidas pants and his burgundy hoodie with his university’s logo printed on it, grunting the entire time. He didn’t technically need to go today, it wasn’t important or anything, but he knew for sure that his new favorite target to tease was working on Saturdays and he didn’t want to take a chance. Kuroo wasn’t going there to see the glasses guy, but he sure made it more entertaining.

 

-

 

Tsukishima was just saying goodbye to his coworker when Kuroo showed up to the store. The blond threw his head back and considered asking God why he was being punished like that, but he didn't think the old woman he was working with would appreciate that. Plus, there was a man and his son printing pictures together, so he couldn't blurt out whatever he wanted right now. He tried to internalise his annoyance, but Kuroo never came up to the desk to ask for help, so Tsukki found nothing to be actually annoyed at. When the woman who worked the morning shift left, Kuroo had walked to the computers and helped himself, which Tsukishima found surprising. Actually, he'd never admit this, certainly not right now, but he'd been expecting Kuroo's visit. Not looking forward to it, but expecting it, and it just felt weird that Kuroo wasn't bugging him like usual. But Tsukishima didn't want Kuroo to be annoying today. So he was happy.

Like a big boy, Kuroo plugged his phone in the machine, chose the pictures he wanted to print and brought his order to the counter where Tsukishima was waiting for him with a strange look on his face. He was suspicious of something, but Kuroo was on angel mode.

"Hi, Glasses. Can you believe I'm already done with my album? Time flies," Kuroo said soulfully, looking around like he had nothing but fond memories of this place.

Tsukishima pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "You've only been here 3 times. And I have a name tag."

Kuroo dropped his gaze on Tsukki's vest, looking for said name tag. "Mmh, 3 times already, time flies," then he found the name tag, "Kei."

Tsukishima suddenly realised that this had been a horrible idea. There was nothing he could do now. He was done with. "Actually, don't call me that. Call me Tsukishima."

"Times flies, Tsukishima," Kuroo repeated with a wink, and Tsukishima was getting bored.

"Can you stop saying that?" Tsukki sighed when Kuroo made a face like he didn't understand what he meant.

Kei grabbed the receipt from Kuroo's hands and looked at it while the older boy took a step back and had a wicked smile. "So I come back in an hour, right?"

"You can take longer than that if you want," Tsukishima answered in a beat, already turning around to walk away with the piece of paper. "After all, time flies."

Kuroo pouted, and he kept pouting until Tsukishima turned back to ask him what he was still doing there. “Oh, you know, hanging out.”

“Go hang out outside.”

Kuroo tilted his head on the side and squinted a little. He needed to make sure that Tsukki’s attitude wasn’t hostile, because sometimes he couldn’t tell. There was still a lot of things Kuroo needed to know about Kei to be able to say that he knew the boy.  “Hey, do you hate me, Tsukishima?”

Kei, who had turned around again to start the order on his computer, opened his eyes wide and thought about the question for a couple of seconds. “I don’t know why I would,” is what he finally said when his other customers approached the counter to pay for their photos.

Kuroo waited as Tsukishima ringed up the father and son’s purchase and gave them a paper envelope for their pictures. Tsukishima only turned to him again when they left the store. “Do I look like I hate you? I don’t know you.”

“Ah, no, it’s fine,” Kuroo replied with a wave of his hand to show that it didn’t matter.

Tsukishima judged him with his eyes, but suddenly stopped, realising that this was the kind of reaction that made Kuroo think he hated him. “Look, I know I’m not exactly… friendly,” Kei started as he walked back to the computer and stared at the screen for a while, his arms crossed, “but if you don’t want to deal with it, you don’t have to come here.”

Kuroo squinted again then, but in a worried way. Tsukishima was too busy staring blank faced at the screen to see it. “Did I offend you?”

“What’s up with assuming all this stuff today?” Tsukishima glared at Kuroo from where he was standing. Someone opened the door and walked in, which brought him back to reality. He was at work. Not supposed to be arguing with clients.

Tsukishima came back to the counter with a strong gaze, but Kuroo wasn’t smirking at him like he expected. “Are you ok, Tsukishima?” Kuroo asked in an empty voice. Almost like he didn’t say anything. And whispered it.

Tsukki looked at him with his mouth hanging open a little. What the fuck. Why was he getting shivers again? He hated this job. “You can come back around twenty past two,” he ended, and Kuroo understood, because he looked him up and down before turning around and leaving.  

 

-

 

Tsukishima had been looking at the pictures for ten minutes already, bored out of his mind. There was one where Kuroo had his face in his blond friend's hair, a huge smile on his face while said friend definitely seemed like he was used to this shit because he didn't look angry, he even had a hint of a smile in the corner of his mouth, but he was looking away from the camera and Tsukishima could feel him sighing through the picture. It was kind of cute.

The other four pictures were all Kuroo with a bunch of people, but two were of the same group. Bokuto was there, his small blond friend too, but there was also a black haired boy with a small polite smile on Bokuto's right and a girl with ginger hair taking the spotlight, held up in the air by Kuroo and Bokuto, laying on her side like a wounded mermaid. She was all smiles.

The last two pictures were Kuroo with guys from the basketball team and Kuroo with a couple of people and... Daichi? That was the picture Tsukishima stayed stuck on the most, but he remembered fast enough that Kuroo attended the same university Daichi said he'd go to back when he was in his last year at Karasuno. Small world.

Kuroo came back just as Tsukishima was putting the pictures away. Tsukishima couldn’t meet his eyes, so he walked over to the counter while watching the floor with the envelope in his hands.

“I… wanted to say sorry,” Kuroo said when Tsukki wasn’t too far away, and suddenly, Tsukishima wasn’t avoiding his eyes anymore and was staring directly into them.

“No, I’m sorry,” Tsukki replied, but he didn’t develop any further.

Kuroo’s eyebrows were furrowed and the spark in his eyes was almost back. “You’re sorry? For…?”

“Practically kicking you out,” Tsukishima answered while he calculated the total of Kuroo’s purchase with his register. “I’m not having the best of days, so.”

Kuroo nodded, a knowing look on his face. “Alright, note taken. Is school making you crazy?”

“Basically,” Tsukishima sighed before telling Kuroo his total and taking the money. “I’m also not getting used to living alone. It’s so weird.”

“Oh, you live alone?” Kuroo sounded impressed. “I still live with my mom, a couple blocks from here. She only makes me pay for my food so it’s a lot cheaper than a dorm room. I guess you probably miss your parents.”

Tsukishima had a short laugh, watching Kuroo as he clearly tried to picture a life without his mom. He looked like a sad dog. “Just my mom. My dad lives an hour away from Tokyo, and I haven’t seen him in… 6 years.”

Kuroo gasped quietly, respectfully, and it made Tsukishima feel weird. People normally shrugged it off and assumed his dad just left and that was it. “Wow, 6 years.  Divorce?”

“Yeah,” Kei replied with a raise of his eyebrows. A moment later, he looked absolutely confused. “Wait, this was some horrible oversharing.”

“Nah, it’s alright, I like listening to you,” Kuroo ended with a bizarre smile that was halfway between seductive and guilty. Almost… fascinated. He picked up the envelope and opened it to look at the pictures. “Did you know Kenma and your orange friend kept contact?”

“Kenma?”

“Kenma,” Kuroo repeated as he put the picture of himself all over the short blond guy’s hair in Tsukishima’s face. “You met him.”

Tsukki shrugged. “Not officially.”

Kuroo smiled softly, nodding negatively while he spread the photos all over the desk to look at them all at once. “Well, thank you again for this,” he said when he put them back into the envelope.

“It’s my job,” Tsukishima replied matter-of-factly.

Kuroo scoffed at him. “Thanks anyway.”

He started leaving after giving Tsukishima a short wave goodbye, but he came to a stop in the middle of the store when he realised he wouldn’t have a reason to come back here after this. “Come by the gym if you ever feel too lonely,” he finally said.

Tsukishima stared at him. He didn’t have it in him to be mad at the guy right now. He really did not have the energy. “I’ll never be _that_ lonely.”

Kuroo left with a mocking laugh.

 

-

 

**[15:19] Kei:**

You can tell mom that I’ll have to come visit a lot sooner than the summer break

**[15:20] Akiteru:**

Will you need a hug when you get here too?

**[15:20] Kei:**

Shut up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I still can't say how many chapters we'll have or how this is gonna turn out actually, but I'm having a lot of fun writting it and I hope you have fun reading it too! You can find me on tumblr, I sometimes babble about ALIF on there - [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/)


	5. Studying in the Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've started school again and I'm afraid it's going to take a lot of my time and inspiration away :(  
> Anyway, I will still try to get one of these out every two weeks, which is doable I think. So, here we are, chapter 5 already!

Kuroo tried and tried again to find a motive, a reason why he was walking past his house and to the small store where a bored blond would hopefully be, but he couldn’t find one other than he didn’t want to never see him again. He felt like that Tsukishima guy was just now warming up to him, and he was sort of worried because of that volleyball thing. He couldn’t just leave it to that.

He was just back from his Saturday morning practice, which started even earlier than the previous week. He had homework to finish and exams to study for, but he also had a mission. It was 9 am, and that was the store’s opening time. Maybe Tsukishima would be all tired and grumpy, or maybe he’d be walking around with a coffee like nothing was going on.

Kuroo couldn’t think of a way to start a conversation. He thought about a simple _I was in the area_ but Tsukishima wouldn’t buy that. He was too smart. And too witty.

There was always the possibility of using charming honesty. Kuroo thought about many things he could say, but he wanted to beat himself up for every new one. Honestly, he probably looked rather confident to other people, but he always prepared his starting pitches before getting carried away by his own stupidness. Of course, most of the time, it came off as spontaneity.

There weren’t that many people out on the street, considering that this was Tokyo and people from Tokyo were always in the fucking street. This was normally a busy neighbourhood, but weekends were always slower than normal. Kuroo appreciated it, because he’d been mumbling greetings under his breath for the past 5 minutes. He didn’t need even more people to know that he was obviously crazy.

He hesitated for a second before walking in front of the store. As soon as he’d be seen from the windows, there was a risk that Tsukishima would notice him, and there was no turning back possible after that. Kuroo took a deep breath as he really wondered why the hell he was so nervous. Was it conversation? Was it _Tsukishima_? He noticed his heart was beating a little too hard to be normal, and that’s when he knew. This had nothing to do with either of those things.

He grabbed his phone in a hurry and texted Kenma. His face felt hot and he knew he had definitely guessed right. He was having a panic attack.

Kenma didn’t answer, and he usually never did that because he always had his fucking phone in his hands and Kuroo had trouble breathing and people were just walking in front of him and he wanted to scream.

He really tried to calm down, to breathe, and to tell himself that it was only getting this bad because he noticed the symptoms too early. His brain was tricking him.

After a minute or two of feeling like he was never going to be calm ever again in his life, Kuroo spun around and walked right into the store, fidgeting a little with his hands, but overall looking pretty normal for a guy in emotional distress. Or at least he thought.

Tsukishima was reading at his desk and didn’t look up until Kuroo was in front of the counter. When Kei looked up, he did a double take before putting his book aside and practically jumping out of his computer chair.

“Hey, are you alright?”

“Can you do something for me?” Kuroo asked as he shook his hand in the air, refusing to answer Tsukishima’s question.

The employee narrowed his eyes and scoffed humorlessly. “Depends.”

Kuroo grinned nervously, but it was still a good grin. Tsukishima took it as a good sign of his well-being. “So, I’ve been looking for someone to help me study. None of my friends are exactly… erudite, so as soon as I’m proposing something else than a fun hangout, they bail. Obviously having no study buddy is stressing me out because I have no idea if I’m doing things right and… wait what are you studying again?”

Tsukishima had both eyebrows drawn together so severely that Kuroo thought he was going to tell him to get out. “Huh, I never told you.”

Kuroo nodded with surprised wide eyes. “Oh! Well, what do you study?”

“Stuff, math mostly,” Kei answered, visibly worried, but in a curious way. He was trying to conceal it.

“Cool! I’m in engineering! Mechanical engineering! I think you could help me.”

Tsukishima didn’t look like he shared that thought. “Listen, I’m only on my first year so I don’t know what kind of help I’d be to you.”

Kuroo brushed it off and shook his head. “Anything helps. A pat on the back, an insult or two, it’s your pick.”

Tsukishima scoffed at the mention of insults. “Would you pay me for each insult I gave you?”

“You’d ruin me,” Kuroo replied awfully seriously, and it made Kei laugh openly this time. It was the first time that Kuroo was seeing something else than a mocking laugh or a half-hearted smile express Tsukki’s emotion of happiness and amusement. It was like visiting a new world, and it made Kuroo feel a little calmer.

“So, basically, you want me to hang out with you while you study or else you’ll keep turning into this… mess?”

It was Kuroo’s time to laugh. “You got it.”

His shit-eating grin was back on. He knew that Tsukishima was about to agree. “And where did you plan to do this? Your mom’s house?” Kei said the last part with a side smile and slightly evil eyes.

“You should know that my mother is a lovely lady and I would never bother her with your face in our house,” Kuroo slapped back with a fake-offended look on his face. “Would the library be okay for your sophisticated taste?”

“I never said I’d go,” Tsukishima pointed out with an uninterested shrug.

Kuroo exhaled deeply before he smiled again. “We’re talking location, so obviously you’re coming.”

Tsukki sighed and sent a deadpan look Kuroo’s way. “I’m off at 1pm,” he mumbled after a beat.

With an astonished but happy raise of his eyebrows, Kuroo gasped softly. “For real?”

“Yes, that’s what it says on my schedule,” Tsukishima answered like Kuroo was stupid. Or maybe it was a joke. Kuroo couldn’t differentiate yet. 

“Dumbass. Seriously, you’ll come?” Kuroo’s voice was full of disbelief, but he looked satisfied with the turn of events.

Tsukishima shrugged again, looking to the side for a moment. “I guess.”

“Cool,” the bed-head said as he nodded, walking back a couple of steps. “So, my university’s library at 30 past 1, alright?”

Tsukki didn’t say anything and only gave one short nod that sent Kuroo on his way back home. Tsukishima stood behind the counter, starring at the door and wondering if that had really just happened.

 

-

 

What had possessed him to agree to this?

Tsukishima walked out of the bus with his school bag on one shoulder and his head phones on his ears, biting his lower lip a little roughly and tearing a piece of skin off. This was making him nervous, for some reason. He’d probably have to talk with him for a while, act like they were friends who knew each other well when they really didn’t. Tsukishima only knew how to do that with Yamaguchi or his brother, and he really didn’t care about it. It’s not like he needed more people to be caught up in his life.

The library was the first big building on the right inside the gates of the campus. The sky was grey and the day was dark, so the many windows of the library shone like a fire in the dark, which was comforting in its own strange way. Tsukishima walked in, taking the stairs up to the room with tables and computers soon after. There were only shelves and books on the first floor, so he figured Kuroo would prefer studying at a table rather than sitting down in an alley between bookshelves. To be honest, he still wouldn’t be surprised if he found Kuroo on the floor somewhere with bent eyebrows and a look of immense concentration on his face, his hair all over the place from brushing it away too often and his clothes all messed up like he wore them three days in a row.

But there he was, in gym’s clothes, seated alone at a four-chair table with a book opened in front of him. With half of his face squeezed in his hand, he looked so bored that Tsukishima didn’t waste time thinking about what he should say first before he walked up to Kuroo. The head of black hair rose from the hand that was holding it up when Tsukishima sat down across from him. The blond dropped his bag on the table loudly, laying back comfortably in his chair as he stared at Kuroo almost as intensely as if it had been a staring contest.

Annoyed was a good look on Kei. It was one of the most natural expressions to graze his features. Kuroo was getting a kick out of seeing him get annoyed, but he also liked Tsukishima’s mocking smiles and happy eyes. There was something about the way Tsukki reacted to his own emotions that made Kuroo strangely happy.

“Come on, I’m getting you out of your empty apartment,” the older student brought up when he saw that the negative look on Tsukishima’s face wasn’t going away.

The younger boy laughed sarcastically. “My knight,” he said jokingly, unzipping his school bag to get a couple notebooks out.

“What are you gonna study?”

Kuroo was pushing his body up over the table to try to peak into Tsukishima’s notes, but he couldn’t see anything. “It’s nothing, it’s just stats,” Tsukki answered while he fought the urge to pull his notebooks to himself and hide them under his forearms. Reflex.

"Stats," Kuroo chorused with a wild smile on his lips, "that was fun."

Tsukishima squinted and his eyebrows fell in line with his glasses again, like they always did when he got confused about something. "You had the same classes I'm having?"

He hadn't stopped grinning. "Some of them, I guess."

"You're still trying to figure out what my major is exactly, right?"

Kuroo laughed shortly, his shoulders shaking a little. "Nah, it's alright, I don't mind a mystery."

Tsukishima shook his head in disbelief. "And what subject are you studying?" He sounded like he was prepared for something ridiculous.

"Curious much? Mind your business," Kuroo replied outrageously while keeping his voice down, and it was so absurd that it got an amused nod out of Tsukishima.

There were not that many people in the library, considering it was the weekend and it was more crowded on week days. No one else was talking though, so it duplicated the volume of every word they said. They tried not to speak too much as they read their notes and tried to memorise what was written, but trying not to speak while both being nervous about being alone together for the first time out of the photo place turned out to be pretty difficult. Kuroo snorted a couple of times as he tried not to laugh, and Tsukishima had to cover his mouth when Kuroo started coughing after keeping his lips pressed together for too long. When they both calmed down, they shared a serious look and went back to their studying, which was rapidly disturbed when Kuroo started stealing glances at Tsukki. He was smiling dumbly, waiting for a reaction, but Tsukishima lifted his book up and hid his face in it for a while.

After at least 30 seconds, the blond peaked over the edge of the book to see if the warm brown eyes were still locked on him in this devious way, which they were. Tsukki launched one of his feet at Kuroo’s shin, and the older boy tried to curl up on himself as a reaction to the pain, only to be stopped by the table on which he sprawled his arms and pressed his chest. Tsukishima tried to keep a straight face, but Kuroo’s fake whine of pain brought an honest smile to his lips.

“What did I ever do to you?” Kuroo asked in a defeated voice.

Tsukki wasn’t able to stop smiling. “Nothing, you’re just ruining my life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Just wanted to clear stuff up about the panic attack before people ask me about it : Kuroo doesn't have panic attacks very often, that's why he freaked out when he noticed the symptoms and also why he texted Kenma right away, before Kenma's probably the only one who knows about it. Kuroo is overwhelmed with homework, exams and volleyball, and considering he's in his 3rd year of college, I think it's more than likely that he's been standing high stress levels for a way too long time, which is where the panic attacks come from. This is not some plot device to give his character an edge, or some clumsy attempt at glorifying anxiety : this is just me writting college the same way that I live college. I hope this is okay for everyone :)
> 
> [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/)


	6. Schedule

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should be doing school work. Here’s chapter 6! Instead of homework!

Monday, noon. Kuroo was walking out of the school with Daichi, bugging him about something.

"You'll tell him, tonight you'll tell him," Kuroo said again, because that's all he'd been saying for the past 5 minutes.

Daichi had that calm but murderous expression on his face, and it used to phase Kuroo, but it didn't anymore. "For the last time, I won't."

Kuroo pouted like a child. "You will, and it's all going to be fine," he assured with a serious gaze.

Daichi made a loud sound of frustration when he sighed, and he looked about ready to pull his hair out. "That's easy for you to say, you're straight. It's not that simple for everyone. You could go up to any girl on this campus and get a date."

Kuroo tilted his head and bent his eyebrows before his expression melted into a knowing smile. "No, I get it. I know what you mean. But this is Suga, not some random dude you're trying to pick up."

Daichi slapped a hand to his own face. "I know," he whined, the sound half-blocked by his hand. "That's almost worse. What if he... what if he doesn't want to be friends anymore?"

"You're freaking out about a possible outcome out of millions of possibilities, that's dumb as fuck," Kuroo replied, deadpan. "He's your best friend, yeah? He doesn't look like the type to just freak out and leave."

Daichi lowered his hand and stared blankly at the sidewalk. "Still, if he's... not interested, it could get messy, you know? Strange looks and awkward silences. It might not be outward rejection, but it's a gradual rejection. That's just as bad."

Kuroo sighed as he put a hand in Daichi's back and pushed to make him walk faster. "You never know until you actually go for it!"

Daichi rolled his eyes and followed suit, speeding up his steps. "That's exactly my problem."

They got to the parking lot and started toward Daichi's car. They were going out to eat. "You're acting like such a sap about this. Give hints and see if he takes them if you're that scared," Kuroo said in defeat.

"How do I know he's taking my hints? I'm not like him, I'm bad at reading people."

"When the fuck did you turn into Asahi?"

Kuroo got a powerful punch on his arm as an answer, and Daichi's punches were not laughing matters so he suffered in silence.

"That's it," Daichi threatened proudly.

Kuroo looked at him alarmingly, feeling betrayed. "If you were not treating me out for lunch, I would turn around and leave."

"That was an insult to me and Asahi, and next time we see him I'm going to have you get down on your knees and plead for forgiveness," Daichi said like a mighty emperor giving sentence on a thief.

It was Kuroo's time to roll his eyes. "If you tell him I said that, you'll hurt him more than you'll hurt me."

Daichi thought about it for a while and sighed when he accepted that Kuroo was right. "Get in the fucking car," he finally said, irritated.

Kuroo hadn't even realised that they were already next to the car. "Alright, you impatient brute."

Daichi threw his school bag at Kuroo over the car and it hit him straight in the face.

 

-

 

When Daichi pulled over in front of Kuroo's house, the passenger got halfway out of the car before he stopped and sat back down. Daichi sent him a look of incomprehension.

"You know, you said...," Kuroo tried, staring at the street in front of him. "You said that it was hard for me to understand because I'm..."

"Yeah..?" Daichi incited him to continue with a worried curiosity.

Kuroo bit his lower lip. "All I wanted to say is... I get it. I really, really do. I’m… in the same boat."

Daichi squinted his eyes, before he opened them wide. He took a second to let it sink in before he started laughing incredibly loud. "What are you so embarrassed about?"

Kuroo shrugged. "Well, you just... assumed stuff and it felt weird."

"I just...," Daichi took a deep breath to stop laughing, "I always thought you were straight, I'm sorry."

Kuroo had a little nervous laugh. "Yeah, I don't blame you. It's fine. Just... now you know."

"I guess I do now," the other boy said with a smile.

Kuroo nodded in finality and walked out of the car. Once he was out, he put both his elbows on the edge where the window would be if it wasn't rolled down, and he used his most serious tone of voice. "You tell him."

Daichi closed his eyes and had a tired smile. "Whatever."

He put the shift stick on drive and drove away. Kuroo had to jump away from the car to keep his feet from being run over, and he heard Daichi laugh through the open windows.

 

-

 

Tsukishima was sipping from the straw of his orange juice, lost in his mind. Yamaguchi was standing in front of him and he didn't even see him. The freckled boy clapped his hand twice to get Tsukki back from the moon. "Hey, don't you work at 5?"

Tsukishima kept looking right in front of himself with dead eyes. "Maybe."

"It's 4:30, don't you think you should be on your way?”

Yamaguchi was trying to be nice. He was nice because he was worried. It pissed Tsukishima off. "Probably."

Yamaguchi blew some air up to his hair in an exasperated way. "Shouldn't you get up and head towards the bus stop, then?"

"I guess," Tsukishima said as he finally stood up to get Yamaguchi to stop talking. They were in a hallway next to the cafeteria, where there were benches against the wall and big windows to look outside. It was cloudy.

Yamaguchi followed him down the hall with a winning smile on his face. They walked to the bus stop together, even though Yamaguchi's dorm was on the campus and he didn't need to take the bus.

"I'm tired, Yamaguchi."

"I know you are," the shorter boy answered as he gave his friend a worried stare, but more in a _I'm sorry_ way than _I understand_. “It’s just 4 hours though, you’ll be fine. You can call me if you want.”

“Yeah, plus the 7 hours of class I’ve just attended,” Tsukishima added grumpily. He wasn’t childish, not often at least. But at this moment, he really wanted to be childish. Ungrateful. Spiteful.

Yamaguchi pouted angrily, or as angrily as he could, but at least he dropped it. The bus showed up 30 seconds later, and Tsukki left as Yamaguchi told him he’d call him tonight if he wasn’t too busy. Yamaguchi sighed deeply and walked away from the bus stop, forgetting to look around for once.

 

-

 

Tsukishima was standing next to an old lady, supervising her work since she asked him in a less than polite way to stay with her because she was "just an old lady who can't do anything". The amount of self-depreciating elders Kei met at his job was honestly surprising, but having to tell them that it was normal and they didn't have to be experts was starting to bore him. The machines were so fucking easy to understand, why couldn't they just try on their own? His impatience was vile, and he'd only been working for a month. He couldn't believe that the people he worked with had all been enduring this for many years.

After all, even Kuroo had needed help. Staring at Kuroo was still more interesting than listening to this woman's story, though.

"...so I gave my sister the picture, and you know we were 18 on this, but we were already chubby. Her brother wasn't, but nowadays he's pretty big, you know. So we were talking about this, and we were laughing so hard."

"Huh," Tsukishima replied with a small smile and a gaze that didn't register it wasn't supposed to be hostile.

The lady didn't mind in the least, so she kept talking. "I gave her two pictures, on for her husband and one for her brother..."

The door pushed open, and the lady turned out to be even more curious than Tsukki when she pulled away from the computer to see who it was. When the woman didn't recognize anyone she knew, she walked back to her machine, and that's when Tsukishima saw who he'd been expecting to see all night.

Kuroo gave a cheeky grin before pointing to the counter and mouthing that he'd wait there. Tsukishima rolled his eyes, but he was kind of glad to see him. He'd been doing homework for 3 hours and he was ready to accept any other distraction.

"Ok, ma'm, now we'll have to pick the pictures if you want to have them before closing time."

"Oh, dear," the woman babbled as she rushed her finger to the screen and started picking photos. "Sorry, am I keeping you from work? I'll make it quick."  

Kuroo snorted from where he was standing, and the glare that Tsukishima sent his way made him stop, but he pressed a finger to his lips mockingly.

The woman asked a couple of questions about resizing and adjusting colors, but she was done in 2 minutes. After she waited for her pictures and paid for them, she left with a little wave of the hand that Kuroo returned before Tsukki could do anything about it.

When Kuroo turned back to Tsukishima, the blond was glaring at him, but something in his face hinted Kuroo that he wasn't mad. The older boy then took a chance: "Are you angry you didn't get to say bye to your new best friend?"

"Why do you only show up when I'm working? Did you steal a copy of my schedule or something?"

Kuroo's evil smile was back on. "I just assumed you worked on weekends."

Tsukishima stayed silent, looking at Kuroo's face with the most neutral expression he could pull. "And why are you here?"

"I also assumed you'd be lonely, but turns out you had another friend over," Kuroo answered jokingly, and when Tsukishima raised his eyes to the ceiling, Kuroo had a short laugh.

Kei's phone started buzzing in his pockets, and since Yamaguchi had told him he might call, Tsukki picked up without checking who the caller was. He pulled up a finger, asking for Kuroo to wait, and he turned around to hide the phone on the side of his head so people from the sidewalk wouldn’t see. Sure enough, Yamaguchi’s voice greeted him when he answered.

Kuroo didn’t catch what the person on the phone was saying, but Tsukishima was answering with normal things like “Oh, I was doing homework, and I just had a customer” and “Well, it’s pretty dead you know, Friday nights”. He started making little sounds to catch the blond’s attention, clicks of tongue and _psst_ s. Kei turned slightly, glaring at him murderously as he replied “Yeah I finished that assignment like a week ago” with his lips pulled tightly.

“Who is it,” Kuroo asked loudly enough to be heard from mars probably, so obviously Yamaguchi heard him and stopped talking suddenly only to ask “What was that?” just a beat later.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes again, showing his entire hand to Kuroo now, asking for patience. “That’s just Kuroo, you know that… yeah exactly.”

Kuroo pouted and frowned. That mysterious person knew him. “Put them on speaker,” he asked, quietly this time.

Tsukishima groaned in frustration, glaring at him with eyes that said _please stop now_. After Yamaguchi probably asked him what he was mad about, Tsukishima replied hastily: “He wants me to put you on speaker.”

Yamaguchi answered something to that, and with a confused frown, Tsukishima took the phone away from his ear and pressed a button. “You’re on speaker now.”

“Hi Tsukki’s friend!” Yamaguchi started in a chipper voice. Tsukishima wanted to press end and cut the torture short, but Kuroo stole the phone from his hands.

“Tsukki?” Kuroo replied, and his confusion paved the way for one hell of a nasty smile that got Kei nodding furiously. “This is so fucking cute,” the older boy added, bringing a hand to his heart.

“Give that back,” Tsukishima asked him with a stern look, pulling out his hand toward Kuroo.

“Is that freckles?” The boy asked in a whisper, refusing to acknowledge the hand reaching for the phone.

Tsukishima sighed through his nose with anger. “His name is Yamaguchi – give that back!”

“Hello, Yamaguchi! You sound like one upbeat fellow,” Kuroo said as he walked around the store, dodging Kei every time he got close enough to grab the phone from his hands.

“Oh, huh,” a shy voice tried on the other end of the phone, “I guess.”

Kuroo had a tender smile at the answer. “Good,” he said with feeling, “and how are you tonight, Yamaguchi?”

A small nervous laugh was heard from the phone. “I’m alright, thank you for wondering.”

“It is my pleasure,” Kuroo made a pause to make a 180 and powerwalk away from the phone’s owner. “You do realise that Tsukishima is chasing me around the store to get his phone back right now, huh?”

Yamaguchi laughed sincerely this time. “I’m picturing it.”

“I’m gonna give it back to him ‘cuz I don’t want him to hate me,” Kuroo said, but he was still running away.

“Alright, have a good night then!”

Kuroo stopped dead in his tracks and Tsukki ran into the guy’s back with a grunt. He figured this must be how people felt when they rear-ended another car with theirs. Kuroo acted as if nothing happened when he turned around to hand the phone to Tsukishima. “Your friend has a pure soul,” he told the blond in a proud way.

“Ok, Yamaguchi, I’m going to kick this stray cat out, I’ll call you later,” Kei mumbled angrily to the phone before he ended the call.

Kuroo was staring at him expectantly, and Tsukishima forgot to be mad when the smile pushing at the corner of his lips won and he snorted out a short, mocking laugh. “Why do you look so scared?”

“You said you were going to kick me out,” Kuroo explained, crossing his arms in front of his chest, which made it seem broader. “I was waiting to be kicked out.”

Tsukishima put the phone back in his jeans pocket and returned to the other side of the counter. “I’m closing in 5 minutes anyway.”

Kuroo smirked at that, walking closer to the counter and resting his elbows on the surface. “So I can stay 5 minutes?”

“Not more than that,” Tsukki replied as he picked up a bottle of cleaning product and walked back to Kuroo, putting the bottle down next to the dark haired boy. “Was there something you wanted to talk about?”

“Did you pass that exam you were studying for?” Kuroo asked with genuine curiosity.

Tsukki had a side smile. “’Course I did,” he answered like it was no big deal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every customer that Tsukki is going to have through this story will be real customers that I have had as a photo place worker. I've had that very conversation last week, it was just much, much longer.
> 
> I have made a plan, and it turns out that this fic could have up to 30 chapters, and that's considering that some of them will be twice the size of the chapters I post right now (which shouldn't be too bad). 
> 
> Next week's chapter is called "Phone Number"
> 
> You can find me at [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/)


	7. Phone Number

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve got Meghan Trainor’s “NO” stuck in my head as I’m writing this so keep it in mind. (also why me)

Whose idea was it that people had to tear their muscles, get their hearts in a frantic, push air in and out of their lungs at a painful pace and tire down their poor bodies to be healthier? Shouldn't there be a pill for that? A shot, maybe?

Kenma was cursing the entire world for the fact that he was currently running on a treadmill. It wouldn't have been so bad if there had been an arm rest, he could've brought his PSP and played with his elbows resting, but the people who made this particular machine had decided that two handles with heart rate sensors were a much better idea than a broad arm rest for people who had no fucking interest in their heart rates.

Their coach had advised (in this insistent way that means it's more of an order than a suggestion) that they also train outside of practices since they had one week and one weekend practice cancelled until the end of the pre-summer-break finals. He kept a sheet with the names of all the members of the team, and they had to write in the day and the time they trained at to prove that they did. It wasn't obligatory, but it was obviously very, very encouraged.

Kenma wanted to die. He had put his hair in a bun, but the shorter hair closer to his face was starting to fall out from the bundle and it stuck to his sweaty face. It was gross, everyone around him was gross, and he hated the gym.

Bokuto was running next to him, at the fastest the treadmill could go, and he had been going like that for 20 minutes without taking even a mild break. It was fascinating in a strange way, and most guys around him were sending him dirty looks full of stinking masculine pride. Kenma, however, was absolutely terrified by this display of endurance.

Kenma was in the cardio part of the gym, and the reason he was stranded in the middle of hell with Bokuto was that Kuroo preferred putting the attention on his legs whom, according to the bearer of said legs, "were not going to keep looking this good without a little help". Kenma knew Kuroo was full of shit, so he let him leave to the weight training part of the gym with a little sigh and a tired wave of his hand.

Of course, Kenma didn’t go there without his phone, it would’ve been way too sad. He took it out of his short’s pocket and it was already on the snapchat app when he turned it on. As he kept running, he opened the funny face filters, turned the camera toward Bokuto and caught his face in a moment of intense concentration, with dog ears on top of his head and a dog tongue sticking out of his mouth. Bokuto had not realised he had done that, so Kenma sent it to everyone who knew Bokuto that he had on snapchat, but he didn’t pollute his story with the dumb picture. His story was made for pictures of cats he saw on the street that he wanted to show everyone.

Barely 10 seconds later had he gotten an answer from Shouyou. A picture of a dark haired boy with a real big mouth and small eyes. The boy seemed overly serious, so the disruption of his features was especially funny. The time for the snap to run out wasn’t even finished when Kenma received a second one from Shouyou. It was him this time, with a halo on top of his head and beams of light all around his face. Kenma had one of his average 4 smiles a day (statistic courtesy of Kuroo) when he took a screenshot.

 

-

 

Tsukki was eating a microwaved meal at the university’s cafeteria, missing his mom and her cooking, when Yamaguchi sat down at the cafeteria table, dropping his books loudly on the surface. “Hello Tsukki!”

Tsukishima was startled for half a second before he let go of his chopsticks and cast a look at Yamaguchi. “Hey.”

“I didn’t know you’d be here. Do you have plans tonight?”

The blond sighed as he closed his eyes regretfully. “Work. Studying probably.”

Yamaguchi twisted his mouth in a disappointed pout. “Oh, that sucks. Well, text me when you have a free evening. The dorms can get pretty loud and it makes me feel like I’m in the middle of a party but I’m all alone in a corner not talking to anyone. I hate it.”

Tsukishima looked down at the table, just between its edge and his microwaved meal. Loud. “Alright, yeah,” he said, his face still facing the table.

Yamaguchi dipped down to stare at his friend’s face. “What are you doing?”

Kei’s head shot up, and he cleared his throat. “Tired. Neck hurts.”

Yamaguchi nodded, a little _ah_ inaudible on his lips. “Well, I have dinner with my dad in town, I’ll call you tonight,” the boy announced as he stood up and grabbed his bag.

“Later,” Tsukki said with the energy of a pet rock that got run over by a pick-up truck.

Yamaguchi frowned, sitting back down immediately. “You should really call your brother. Or your mother. Or, you know, go back home for a weekend. I feel like you’re slowly going crazy.”

This wasn’t the first time that they were having this conversation. “I know, Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima breathed. He was over it.

Yamaguchi made the sad puppy dog eyes for 5 seconds, standing up again. “I just – I really hate seeing you like this. Is there something I can do?”

“Do my homework for me?” Tsukishima joked in a dead voice. “I’m alright, Yamaguchi, I just need time to adjust to… everything.”

Yamaguchi nodded once, sharply. He had faith. “Ok. Well, tell me if you need anything. I – I need to go,” the boy ended apologetically.

Tsukishima sent him off with a wave of his hand. Yamaguchi turned to him a couple of times as he left the cafeteria, a worried smile with hints of hope on his face. Tsukki took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand when his friend was out of eyesight.

 

-

 

It had been 4 hours of incapable old people and awful middle aged women who kept bitching about the prices, 4 hours of machines screaming because the paper was empty and homework not getting done because Tsukishima couldn’t stop staring at the paper without moving, 4 hours of hell. Plus, a thought was hovering in his mind, and he didn’t want to acknowledge it, but the more he tried not to, the more it imposed. It had been two weeks since he’d seen Kuroo, two full weeks, weekends and all. He didn’t _want_ to see him, but it was strange. Kuroo’s visits were something he had grown used to, despite himself.

He started closing the shop at 8:30, cleaning the counter tops and the computer screens with his head in the clouds. He turned off the machines, packed his things in his bag and turned off the lights. As he was turning off the soft music from the radio station, Tsukishima heard a soft knocking on the door’s window. It was too dark outside to see who was at the door, so Tsukki put his bag on his shoulder and walked warily toward the door.

The shadow cleared up with each step, the change of perspective altering with the lighting, and there he was.

Tsukishima unlocked the door and stuck half of his body out the door, keeping his left half inside the store. “It’s been a while,” he said casually.

Kuroo grinned at him. “Yeah, school took over for a while.”

Tsukishima knew that reality all too well. “What do you want?”

Suddenly, Kuroo wasn’t really smiling anymore. Well, he was, but his nervousness was too palpable to be ignored. “I thought you wouldn’t mind a little change of air?”

The blond squinted his eyes, but he wasn’t rejecting whatever this was about.

“Want to go out, eat something and breathe a little? No pressure,” Kuroo added quickly, putting emphasis on his words.

Tsukishima blinked a couple of times, keeping his face expressionless. “Wouldn’t this be much easier if you had my phone number?”

Kuroo tilted his head on the side, his gaze warm and surprised melting into Tsukki’s eyes like he couldn’t believe what he just heard. His smile went back to normal. “I guess it would,” Kuroo agreed, throwing his words on the table, letting them mean what they wanted.

Kei pulled his hand toward Kuroo as he rolled his eyes, waiting for the boy’s cellphone to be put in it. Once he got it, he added his number to Kuroo’s contacts and made his contact name the moon emoji with the creepy face.

When Kuroo asked “Why the moon?”, Tsukishima simply answered “Because you liked my nickname so much”. Kuroo snorted in response.

 

-

 

At the question “How was tonight?” Tsukki should’ve been able to say something simple like _oh not too bad you know, same old_. But he hadn’t been able.

He had probably been venting about everything he could think of for the last 10 minutes. Kuroo’s laughing and occasional teasing was making it pretty easy to just say all that went through his head. How his stats teacher smelled like a dirty swimming pool, how the hallways of the school were always too damn cold, how he missed his mom and his warm house where he didn’t have to worry about having enough money to pay rent. Kuroo nodded through it all, offering a piece of his mind once or twice.

“Summer break is coming up. You’ll be able to go back home in that time, yeah?”

Tsukishima stared at the cup of tea he had between his hands. He felt so dumb and whiny all of a sudden. “Yeah.”

Kuroo dropped his elbows on the table and held his chin up with his hands. “What’s up?”

Kei shook his head vigorously. “I’m really sorry.”

“For what,” Kuroo asked, smiling doubtfully.

All Tsukki’s will to speak had left his body. He didn’t want a single word to escape his mouth ever again, so he shrugged.

Kuroo’s smile turned soft, calming. Tsukki glared at him with round eyes. “For what,” Kuroo asked again, reassuringly.

“Talking too much,” Tsukishima explained after a powerful sigh.

Kuroo closed his eyes and exhaled a short laugh. “You barely talked. Tell me more about seaweed teacher,” he requested whole-heartedly.

A small smile appeared on Tsukishima’s face for a second, but Kuroo caught it.

 

-

 

**[00:22] 0036296835**

I’m thinking of getting you seaweed for your birthday. When’s your birthday?

**[00:22] Kei**

Kuroo?

**[00:23] 0036296835**

You often have random people texting you about seaweed?

**[00:24] Kei**

I don’t know, I assumed you’d be more of the careless texter type.

**[00:24] Stray cat**

You didn’t answer my question, when’s your birthday?

**[00:25] Kei**

You’re not getting me seaweed.

**[00:26] Stray cat**

We can make sushi with it. When’s your birthday?

**[00:26] Kei**

God you already get on my nerves.

**[00:28]**

09/27

**[00:28] Stray cat**

:)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *psssst* next chapter is called Do You Know French? and it's already half written so you might get it in a couple days spread the word


	8. Do You Know French?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to bed now byebye

Tsukishima's mother picked up on the second ring. " _Kei?,_ " she asked disbelievingly.

The boy smiled sadly, his mother's voice not making anything much better so far. "Yeah, hi mom."

His mother gasped, and then sniffled, and Tsukki wondered if he'd just made his mother cry by _calling her_ , but his thoughts were cut short. " _Is everything fine, sweetie?_ "

He had never thought he'd miss being called that. "No, I'm fine, I just... feel a little alone."

A concerned sigh on the other end of the line let Tsukishima know that his attempt to not make his mother worried had not worked very well. " _Even with Yamaguchi around?_ "

Kei took his glasses off and laid down on his couch, staring at the now blurry ceiling. "We're not together all the time, mom."

" _But don't you have other friends at school? You've been there for a while already, surely you've met other people?_ " The static in his mom's voice made her sound so far away, unreachable. There was nothing she could do, and the distance between them only made everything worse.

Tsukki's goal had never been to meet new people. He wasn't going to Tokyo to make more friends and live the city life. He was going there because there were too many universities to count and he'd be sure to get the education he needed, and deserved, to grow professionally. That was all. "Not really. You know the type of guys there, not very talkative."

" _Neither are you_ ," his mother answered mater-of-factly, but it still felt like a jibe.

Tsukishima chuckled. "Why do you think I went there?"

Another long, motherly sigh was heard through the phone. " _As long as you like what you're doing, sweetie._ "

"Yeah, I think I do," he answered quickly, because that was the only thing he was sure of. "They're still teaching us the basics, but it seems pretty cool."

" _I'm glad,_ " his mother said with an obvious lump in her throat. Kei felt so bad for making her sad like this.

"Mom, I'm sorry that I don't... call a lot. I don't want to disturb you with my boring problems."

" _Oh, sweetie... I'm just very happy you called me, don't worry. I'm here to help you, don't forget that._ "

Tsukishima could perfectly picture the face his mom was making as she said that, and it almost felt like it was enough. "Yeah, I know, that's why I'm calling now."

" _You're still coming to visit in 3 weeks? Akiteru told me it's your summer break._ "

Tsukishima sighed, but he was lightly grinning at the thought that he would be home in 3 weeks. "Yeah, I got days off from work."

His mother sniffled again, but she laughed nervously right after. " _I miss you so much._ "

Kei felt like his heart had just been ripped out from his chest. There was nothing to do to stop his own tears now, and he hadn't cried in literal years. "I can't wait to see you."

He felt like a kid in kindergarten crying to get his mom back, but it was a voice he’d needed to hear, and it brought him back to the real world. After they said their goodbyes, the haze Tsukishima had been swimming in for a while wasn't as thick as it was before he called. He felt real and whole when he went to bed with red eyes and a headache.

 

-

 

Kuroo was pressing the cords of his hoodie between his nails, chipping the plastic off a little. Since they hanged out outside of the store, Kuroo was stopping by more often, and for no apparent reason, but that didn’t matter. Tsukishima didn’t exactly mind the company, in all honesty. If Kuroo was constantly bored enough to swing by this often, then Kei was happy to help, because he knew Kuroo would spend his time doing homework otherwise and he didn’t wish this upon anyone.

There was something strange on this Sunday afternoon though, because Kuroo was stepping around like he was proud of something, or like he was scheming. He pulled on the cords with both hands, braking at the counter to rest his elbows, twisting the strings around his fingers with a wicked grin on his face. He hadn’t said much since he came in the store besides “Hi Tsukki” and “What beautiful weather we’re having”, so Kei wasn’t really sure what this was all about.

Tsukishima raised his eyes over his glasses, looking at Kuroo with a cold stare. "Are you staying?"

"Actually, no, not much longer" the older boy hinted as he started walking around again, skipping a little bit. He seemed to be half-nervous and half-excited. "I have a date tonight. Well, a date, more like a meeting. A rendez-vous."

Tsukishima sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose as he straightened his back. "You know that's just another word for date, right?"

"Mmh, yeah," Kuroo answered before sticking his tongue out. He stopped by the door and turned to face the blond boy again, smiling like a psycho. "Do you know French?"

"I don't," Tsukishima said as he shrugged, putting the book he was reading beforehand besides his thigh on the table. "I just know what rendez-vous means."

"Oh," Kuroo exclaimed in false surprise, smiling even more creepily now. "And, do you know what ménage à trois means?"

The blond boy thought about it, keeping a straight face. "A very effective way for you to disappoint two people at once?"

Kuroo scoffed, relaxing his face to offer Tsukki a proud sneer. "I was about to say it was you joining me tonight, but if you want to play dirty..."

"Depends if there was even a date to begin with," Tsukishima rushed in, crossing his leg in a way that aimed to be mysterious. Kuroo squinted his eyes at him.

"Are you suggesting," the black haired boy started in a shocked gasp, bringing his hand to his chest outrageously, "that I would've lied to you about the fact that I’m getting ass? Well, you are absolutely right."

Tsukishima smiled, and it felt like small strings were pulling at the corners of his lips with too much strength for him to even care about fighting back. He still wanted to slap himself in the face. "So you don't have a rendez-vous then?"

"Total bullshit," Kuroo exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air, "I was trying to get to you." His smile was back on. Tsukishima couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "Been a while I haven't been on a date, actually. I'm probably too cute, no one gets on my level."

Tsukishima really wanted to throw his book at Kuroo's head. This wasn't a foreign feeling, but it was particularly strong, and for no reason. Was this... Amusement? Pity? Disgust?

 _Curiosity? Just that, mmh_.

"Sure, brocoli face. When are you gonna leave me alone?"

Tsukishima slid his hand underneath his glasses, pressing his palm over his eyes and nose. Kuroo laughed at the gesture.

"Alright, Asshole McDick, I'm leaving, don't miss me too much," Kuroo yelled as he walked toward the door, waving at Tsukki like a mother waves at their child who's leaving for a field trip.

“You don’t have to leave for real, dumbass,” Tsukishima yelled back when Kuroo opened the door. The older boy turned around with the most pleasantly surprised expression that Kei had ever seen on his face. That said _a lot_.

“Oh?,” Kuroo questioned, with his fucking face looking like he was sassing the entire city at once. This man was a joke.

Tsukki had to roll his eyes at that. Kuroo made his way back next to the cash register, and Tsukishima uncrossed his leg as he braced himself for the stupidity that was probably going to come out of Kuroo’s mouth.

“I don’t want to hear it,” the blond said in warning, pulling his palm to face Kuroo to make sure his rejection was open and clear.

Kuroo pouted dramatically. “You don’t even know-“

“Not like I need to,” Kei uttered before Kuroo could go on much longer.

“You’re the one who asked me to stay, so you must love to hear me talk,” Kuroo smirked. “Don’t you like the sound of my voice? I’ve heard it’s quite melodic.”

“Well obviously you never paid enough attention to hear _yourself_ ,” Tsukki replied as he picked his book up again.

Kuroo grinned, Tsukishima didn’t even need to see his face to know that he did. “You tell me to stay and then you ignore me? I’m wounded.”

The worker dropped the book again with a long sigh. “You can keep talking if you like the sound of your voice that much.”

“Your difficult attitude and your harsh words are sorta _cliché_ ,” Kuroo joked like he was an absolute mastermind and it made Tsukki want to get up and throw him out of the store. Instead he just stared at the floor with big eyes and it made Kuroo fall into a laughing fit.

 “You can get out now,” Kei said flatly when he raised his eyes to meet Kuroo’s again, but it only made the older boy laugh harder.

Kuroo was clutching at his stomach, his head hanging low in front of his body. He wasn’t even faking it that much. “You’re gonna be the death of me,” he said endearingly, with a too broad smile on his face.

Tsukishima smiled at him after holding back against it with little to no effort. “That’s my ultimate goal. Actually, the second you walked in here, I’ve been trying to do just that.”

Kuroo loved seeing a smile on Tsukki’s face and seeing him joke around grimly like that. It was still as magical as the first time. “You’re getting there,” he replied as he pressed his chest closer to the counter. “Hey, aren’t there supposed to be people coming here?”

Tsukishima shrugged, pulling his body straighter to look out the window from his high grounds, sitting comfortably on the desk. “I guess they just need to see the back of your head to know that they’d better turn around and go someplace else,” the blond answered with a mean smirk.

Kuroo acted offended for a second, gasping and taking a step back to grab at his chest. His act fell back into his signature self-assured smile soon enough, but there was a hint of seriousness in his eyes. “I really have to go now, though. Not a date, just studying.”

Kei nodded twice, stepping down from the desk. “Don’t overwork yourself,” the employee ordered, and the shocked gaze he got as an answer unsettled him and made him stop in his tracks. “What?”

Kuroo shook his head, a reassuring smile appearing on his lips. “I know when to stop,” he assured Tsukki, and with that, he walked away with a wave and a stupid wink.

When the door shut down behind Kuroo, a strange feeling of emptiness found its way in Tsukishima’s guts, which left him understandably confused.

 

-

 

Kenma was sitting on the floor of Kuroo’s room, a controller in his hands and his eyes fixed up on the tv hanged on the wall facing his best friend’s bed. Bokuto had chosen to sit on a chair, and he had the second controller in his possession. They were both pressing buttons quietly, too concentrated on what was happening on the screen to talk much. Kuroo was staring at his notes, taking in as much info as he could before his brain would shut down and he’d feel too tired to move. His brain and his body were exhausted, but he kept telling himself that he had to pull through for another 3 weeks and then he’d have a break. He couldn’t understand how Tsukishima did it, with a job and an apartment. Sometimes it gave him anxiety just to think about it.

Kenma groaned quietly, a sign that he had probably just died or encountered a mild inconvenience. Bokuto was grinning, so he was probably the cause of that small groan.

“Would you stop making me waste my time by challenging me to duels? We’re supposed to be on the same team.”

Bokuto shrugged, smiling widely now. “Get wrecked,” he answered unapologetically.

Kuroo scoffed, knowing that there was a storm coming after that.

“Kenma, what are you doing?” Bokuto asked as he straightened in his chair, his eyes going big.

The corners of Kenma’s lips turned in a subtle smile, the kind only Kuroo could notice. “Teaching you a lesson.”

Kuroo didn’t know anything about this game, he had never been really interested in it, but even by his limited standards, he knew that the speed with which Kenma won the duel was probably a world record. Bokuto slumped back in his seat, a frown visible on his face. “You’re ruthless.”

“Sure am,” Kenma replied with a hint of adorable pride.

Kuroo couldn’t help but marvel at how lucky he was to have those two dumbasses in his life. When they both went back to playing quietly again, Kuroo turned to his notes against his will. His phone lighted up next to his thigh on the bed, so he grabbed it and unlocked it to see what the notification was. It was Tsukishima giving him his Snapchat username after Kuroo had asked for it a couple hours earlier. He added it immediately and sent him a picture of Kenma and Bokuto playing videogames with the caption “My rendez-vous/ménage à trois”.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> French!!!! Here it is!!!  
> It's actually not going to be very important to the story, it's just one of the first things I wrote when I started this fic. The French language has so much more to offer than that.
> 
> Next chapter is called "Quiet". Make your bets on what it's about!
> 
> Tumblr is [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/) as well ;)


	9. Quiet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (that’s me yelling because I’ve got so much homework). Ok hi! Two weeks time I think? While I’m THIS fucking busy? Christmas miracle. April fools miracle? Easter miracle? A Miracle™. I wanted to do angst with this one but I couldn’t. So sorry to all the angst lovers (other term suitable: masochists). Have fun with this one! Had mad fun writing it.

There was a time Kei would’ve proudly told his brother that he’d made a new friend, considering he’d been able to shoulder what having a friend really meant. Akiteru had always been pretty pushy when it came to his little brother being social. He’d ask him, once a week at least, _How’s it going in the friends department?_ , and Kei would grunt but smile anyway, annoyed at all the attention. The first time he walked home with Yamaguchi and Akiteru saw them wave at each other and part ways, he almost burst through the door screaming _IS THAT YOUR FRIEND_ (intonation without the question mark, insistent). Kei was almost afraid to say yes, he had no idea if this was what having a friend was like. His brother made it sound like the most amazing thing in the universe, like having a telepathic bridge with someone, being _close_ close. Soul mate bros. Ultimate best friends. But with all of your friends.

Kei said no. He said Yamaguchi wasn’t his friend, because it suddenly scared him. Loneliness wasn’t something he felt, it wasn’t a problem, and he didn’t necessarily want a soul mate bro or an ultimate best friend. Years later, of course now he knows that Yamaguchi is his best friend and nothing comes close to this deep understanding they have between them. But when he was ten, Kei didn’t want a friend. He had his brother and his family and he didn’t _need_ friends.

School was ruthless, but he was the most horrible kid in the bunch when it came to slap backs, so it evened out. He had Yamaguchi’s back and he had his brother’s back when he went to Kurasuno high school and lied to him. He had their backs no matter what.

Friendships never hurt him. That wasn’t the problem. Friendships had been good to him, if anything. _Friends_ were sometimes too… intense. Worried. They tried to mom you. Kei didn’t like that. Then again, that wasn’t the problem either.

Hinata was one example of the type to swing by once in a while, yell in Kei’s ears about the same damn things every time (ex. : volleyball, Kageyama being a dick, volleyball, his sister being a pain, volleyball, Kageyama again, and some more volleyball), then leave. Hinata was a periodical friend, only when he was around. Friends like Hinata didn’t bother Kei at all, because they weren’t all up in his space, in his things, in his _life_. They weren’t getting caught in it.

Kei was scared. He was afraid of people getting tangled in the mess that was his mind, he didn’t want people to mess with his habits. To say he’s strange. To rub him the wrong way. And that was the problem.

But he had opened the door. He didn’t want to close it. He also didn’t want to pick up his phone and text his brother, say something like _hey, I think I found someone to talk to_. He had no idea if he had found a potential ultimate best friend, but if someone asked him if he and Kuroo were friends, he’d probably say no. Kei knew his nos had always been hiding his fear.

 

-

 

It had been a slow day, boring because it was slow, but not slow because it was boring. The kind of day when you don’t mind being in school because you’re actually learning something you like.

Kuroo was walking home from his bus stop, keeping his bag on one shoulder and scrolling down on Facebook. A wild idea suddenly bloomed in his mind, and with a grin, he typed a name in the search bar and opened the first result, falling face to face with a group picture. He had to squint to see the person whose name he had searched, in the right corner of the picture, unsmiling, and a little younger looking. Hair a little shorter. Not the same glasses.

Kuroo clicked on the picture to get a better view. The posting date was a year ago. Tsukishima hadn’t changed his profile picture in a year. Kuroo had to hold back changing his own picture every week.

It was Kei’s volleyball team. Hinata was standing in front of him, Yamaguchi to his left. He didn’t know any of the other players. There was no caption on the photo, no one was tagged, but there were 32 likes. Kuroo swiped left to see the next profile picture, which was a shot of Tsukki with what seemed to be an older dude with dirty blond hair. They both had an arm in the other’s back, the older guy smiling big and bright, Tsukishima in the middle of rolling his eyes. He did have that content look on his face though, and it made Kuroo smile. The identification said that the mysterious older guy was Tsukishima Akiteru, which meant that this was Tsukki’s brother or his cousin.

The rest of Kei’s picture didn’t really offer much else, and it was the only thing he was allowed to see on his profile. All his statuses and his information were blocked from people who were not his friend, so Kuroo sent a request. To hell with it. He went for coffee with the guy, which was a friendly enough thing to do. Tsukishima was closed off, sure, but coffee was universal in friendship language.

 

-

 

Kei was sitting at his desk in his bedroom, trying to concentrate on a math problem that he had been stagnating in front of for 30 minutes already. He’d texted his brother and asked for help, he’d looked on the internet, he even considered asking Kuroo (which he did not). He tried it once more, getting some answer that didn’t make any sense for the 12th time at least. It was the way the question was asked: the numbers were percentages instead of whole numbers, so he had to use the decimals, but the percentages he had to use didn’t give the right number in the end, unless the answer was 158%. Unlikely, one would think.

He really wanted to forget about it and go to sleep, but he had to hand in his completed problems the next day since they were doing a simulation with these types of calculations and he had to get them right.

Still, there was nothing he could do, so he decided to wait for an enlightenment. The answer would surely come if he waited for it.

Kei leaned back in his office chair, closing his eyes and taking his glasses off. He had to take a shower before he went to bed. Ugh.

Just as he was going to pick up his phone from his desk, it started ringing. Since he didn’t have caller ID, Kei answered without thinking, expecting either his mom, his brother or Yamaguchi. The voice who cut him as he was saying hello didn’t belong to any of these people.

“ _Tsukki, I’m kinda stuck with this homework right now and I thought maybe you’d be able to help, sorry for calling like that I just kinda-_ “

“Kuroo?”

“ _Well, yes, obviously, unless my voice changes that much through the phone. How do I sound? Is my voice higher or deeper?_ ”

Kei immediately brought a hand to his face in despair. What would he ever do with that boy? “No, you sound normal, I was just surprised.”

There was a beat of silence from Kuroo’s end. “ _Did I catch you at a bad time? Are you busy?_ ”

“It’s fine, I was just doing homework myself. Kinda stuck as well.”

Kuroo made a small sound in acknowledgement, breathing a little too close to the phone. “ _What are you doing?_ ”

“I have to get the hang of the normal law and the binominal law. Familiar with it?”

Kuroo scoffed, probably thinking not-so-fondly of those laws. “ _Yeah, I guess it’s somewhere in my brain. Can’t promise I’ll be able to help, though._ ”

Kei nodded softly, even though Kuroo couldn’t see him. “You don’t need to help me, I’m not the one who called. Obviously you’re even more desperate than I am.”

“ _Hey!_ ,” Kuroo objected, and Kei couldn’t help but smile at his reaction. “ _It’s not cause it’s true that you should point it out!_ ”

Kei waited, a smile still warm on his face that he chose not to acknowledge.

Kuroo was staying silent too, but that was a little stranger. At one point, he just cleared his throat and asked: “ _Why is it that quiet on your side?_ ”

Kei hadn’t even realised that he could hear all the activity on Kuroo’s side, the rusting of his sheets under his body, the tv playing in the background and the steps on the floor above. Kei’s room, his entire apartment actually, was dead quiet, his voice echoing against the walls and the furniture like the noise was trying to run away from him.  

Kuroo didn’t speak again, waiting for an answer to his question. Kei looked at his headphones, forgotten on the kitchen table, he looked at his television in the living room, pitch black. His bedroom was almost as dark, the only light coming from his laptop’s screen. Even the computer was completely silent, like it wasn’t even on. It wasn’t a normal kind of silence, it was deliberate, oppressing. Kei didn’t need to be reminded that he was doing this to himself.

“Huh,” he started hesitantly, waiting to hear Kuroo’s breathing on the phone before he kept going, “I’m trying to keep everything as quiet as possible. Background noise is a way to cope with being alone, but I want to get used to it on my own.”

Kuroo didn’t answer, he just kept breathing too close to the phone, and that wasn’t comforting at all, being the only noise Kei heard at all in his apartment. “ _I’m not sure I follow_ ,” he finally admitted.

Kei smiled again, amused. “Well, I figured I’m probably gonna live alone for a while, so I should just get used to the silence now.”

Kuroo took a couple of seconds before he answered. “ _Ok, yeah, if that makes sense to you. I hope I’m not disturbing your silence bubble._ ”

“I told you you’re not bothering me,” Kei replied with a sigh. “Plus, we’re Sunday night, so your homework is probably due tomorrow, right? Let’s get on with it.”

Kuroo had a short laugh, accompanied by the rustling of paper. He explained the number he was stuck on and Kei helped as much as he could, trying to pinpoint what Kuroo was doing wrong. When they found it, Kuroo thanked Kei, and just as the blond was about to hang up, Kuroo said: “ _By the way, you’re probably just forgetting to square root your result and then calculate the average, then you’ll be able to calculate the standard deviation. As for the normal law, I never understood shit about it so you’re screwed._ ”

Of course, square root. How could he forget to square root? “That’s good enough, thanks Kuroo.”

Kei could hear Kuroo’s smile in his small sigh. “ _You’re welcome, Tsukki. Get enough sleep, alright?_ ”

“You too,” Kei whispered before he ended the call and put the phone back on his desk. Kuroo turned out to be right, and Kei finished his homework in 10 minutes.

 

-

 

Kuroo had 30 minutes to find Daichi and ask him Very Important Questions. His class was starting at 1 pm and he’d wasted half of his lunch hour before he remembered his quest. He texted Daichi to meet him halfway at the fountain in the middle of the yard, but he knew damn well that Daichi checked his phone on average once every 5 hours. Boy had communication issues.

To his surprise, Daichi got to the fountain before Kuroo did. With a deep set frown and a curious smirk, Kuroo walked up to Daichi at a faster pace.

“Oh, Kuroo, hey. What was it about?”

“Since when do you check your phone on lunch hour?”

Daichi squinted a little, looking for a way to avoid the question. “You wanted to ask me something?”

Kuroo decided to verify his doubts later and ask the Very Important Questions he’d wanted to ask first. “Yeah, hum, this is going to sound pretty weird, but I wanted to ask you about one of your ex-teammates?”

The other boy nodded, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Ok, yeah, which one?”

“Can we sit down?”

Daichi had a look on his face that perfectly translated _what the fuck is this guy dragging me into and what kind of shit does he want to talk about exactly_. He still sat down next to Kuroo on a park bench, staring warily at his friend.

Kuroo took a deep breath before he continued. “I wanted to ask you about Tsukishima Kei.”

Daichi’s left eyebrow raised up a little. “Tsukishima? Yeah, sure, what is it?”

“Can you… I mean, how was he when you knew him?,” Kuroo asked clumsily.

The other boy blinked a couple of times, taking the time to think about it. He had no idea why Kuroo was asking this, but he had no reason to think that he had any bad intentions. “Detached, I guess. He wasn’t exactly warm to people, not even to Yamaguchi – his best friend, back then at least. I’m not sure what you want to know, though.”

Kuroo sighed, pushing his hair away from his face. “I met him a while ago and I guess I’m starting to get a little worried.”

“Worried?” Daichi repeated, trying to know what Kuroo meant by that.

“You say he was detached, so he wasn’t close to anyone on the team except for Yamaguchi?”

Daichi shrugged, blinking too much again. “I don’t know, dude. I played with him for a year, and I don’t think I saw him since his last tournament.”

Another sigh, stronger this time. “Alright, I guess it’s normal, then.”

Daichi had a nasty smile, one he reserved for Kuroo, before he asked: “Why are you _really_ asking me this? Did he turn you down or something?”

Kuroo glared at him like he had never been more offended in his life, gasping for an absurd amount of time. “I care about him and his well-being, and you dare – _you dare_ – presume that I have ulterior motives?”

Daichi stood up from the bench, shaking his head as he smiled tenderly. “Alright, sure, just don’t pressure the kid and it should be fine. Give him time, he’ll warm up to you.”

When Daichi left, claiming he had to get ready for his next class, Kuroo didn’t move from the bench, thinking about what Daichi had just told him for a while. All he wanted was for Tsukki to be alright and enjoy his life in one of the hardest times, and if it had to take 3 years, it would take 3 years. He still had to figure out why it mattered so much to him in the first place, though, but that was a concern for future Kuroo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw, Daichi checks his phone more because he expects more incoming texts and he sends more texts. To a certain Sugawara Koushi.
> 
> Ok now I'm gonna sleep for 12 hours xxx
> 
> Next chapter is called The "No Pressure" Hangout


	10. The "No Pressure" Hang Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s up lovely people! I am about to die :) Honestly I hate school I’m finishing pre-university (that’s a thing in Quebec, 2 years of prep school before university that we call cegep) and I am THIS fucking deep in homework. I have found that I write better when I’m supposed to be doing like twenty other things. Go figure. Bad priorities.
> 
> Anyway, it’s therapeutic and I feel a sense of accomplishment when I post a chapter so I guess it’s better than just not doing anything and sulking away. Which I still do too often.
> 
> Have fun :D
> 
> *I've been having trouble when editing this chapter so if you tried to read it before and there was only half of it it's fixed now! Never try to put emojis in your fics guys. Don't do it.

It was 8:30 when Kei finally locked the door of his apartment, running down the hallway the second he took the key out of the lock. He was going to be late, the bus ride was 15 minutes on a good day, and this day wasn't heading towards good. He pulled his phone out, dodging the people on the side walk as he texted back the only person who was awake this early on a Saturday.

 

[8:29] Stray Cat

Hey Tsukki! U working today?

[8:34] Kei

Yeah. Slept through my alarm tho so I'm gonna be late

 

Kei had the time to walk to the bus stop before Kuroo wrote back.

 

[8:37] Stray Cat

Late? Wait a sec

 

Kei frowned at the text message, his mouth twisting in a thin line.

 

[8:38] Stray Cat

Don't take the bus, I'll pick u up with my mom's car

 

The blond just blinked at the screen, figuring it was probably a joke. The bus would be there in 2 minutes.

 

[8:38] Kei

You're kidding right?

[8:39] Stray Cat

No

[8:39]

It'll take twice the time if u take the bus

[8:39]

If I pick u up it'll be five minutes instead of 30

 

Kei was starting to think that this wasn't a bad idea at all.

 

[8:40] Strat Cat

What stop are u at?

[8:41] Kei

National bank/central

[8:41] Stray cat

Omw

 

Blinking in a dumbfound way at that last message, Kei walked out of the bus stop shelter and waited next to it, kicking the ground with the tip of his shoes as to get some of his anxiousness out of his system. For the entire 8 minutes that he waited for Kuroo, Kei thought about every possible outcome this situation could have. Kuroo could get lost and make him even later than the bus would have. Maybe he would have underestimated the traffic and the distance there was between his house and Kei's bus stop so it'd take him 40 minutes to drive all the way there.

But Kuroo had showed up and he drove pretty well for a guy who swore he hadn't been behind a wheel for a whole year. That wasn't exactly comforting at first, but Kuroo was good at being surprising.

"Do you need me to call you before I leave for practice to make sure you're awake?" Kuroo asked jokingly while they were waiting at a red light.

Kei rolled his eyes, hoping that being annoyed was as bad as it would get with Kuroo today. He didn't want to get straight up angry if Kuroo tried to show some sort of concern. "I'll be fine, this won't happen again."

"I wasn't holding it against you. It humanizes you, if anything," Kuroo laughed as he took a right after the light.

Tsukishima turned to glare at Kuroo, an air of incomprehension on his face. "I need to be humanized?" He wasn't offended, just asking.

Kuroo laughed again, but this time it sounded a little bashful. "You know what I mean, you come across as put together and practically flawless."

Kei now stared at Kuroo with the whole new purpose of showing his absolute amazement. "Practically?"

Kuroo snorted, closing his eyes for half a second, a contented look on his face. "Everybody's got improvement to do, Tsukki."

"Like actually wake up when your alarm rings?" Tsukishima offered sarcastically.

"Exactly that," Kuroo agreed, a laugh stuck in his eyes and his cheeks. He looked like he was at peace with the world, pleasantly surprised by his early morning surroundings. Kei was too, and he simply could not look away.

After an embarrassing amount of staring, Tsukishima settled on looking at the street ahead of them. He remembered this neighbourhood, they weren't too far away.

After turning a corner and driving straight for a couple of lights, Kuroo pulled over in front of the store and stopped the car. "We're here, princess."

"Oh, come on," Kei exclaimed before he slammed the door of the car, "I didn't even ask you for a ride, you offered."

"It wasn't meant in a mean way either," Kuroo defended himself, walking out from his side of the car.

Tsukishima was already unlocking the door when he looked behind and frowned in confusion. "Why are you following me?"

Kuroo pointed at his chest, as if he was wondering if Kei had been talking to him. "Keeping my boy company. I brought this," he said before he took a pack of cards out of his jacket's pockets. "Hours of fun."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes as he went back to unlocking the door, not without the smallest hint of a smile on his lips. Kuroo was thoughtful, he had to give him that.

Once the door was opened, the whirring of the machines swallowed them in and the temperature inside the store was already oppressing.

"Oh God, keep the door open," Kei told Kuroo, turning to look over his shoulder and locate the small piece of wood they could put underneath the door to keep it from closing. Kuroo completed his task before he walked to the counter, taking his jacket off on the way.

"Does it always get this hot during the night?" He asked with fright in his eyes. This was hell and he wouldn't wish this type of heat on anyone.

Kei shrugged, coming back from the back store with his name tag and his small dark green apron. "It's the computers and the stores right next to us. A restaurant and a tanning salon, it makes the room stuffy."

Kuroo left his pack of cards on the surface before he grabbed the back of his shirt and shook it around, allowing some cooler air on his skin. Tsukishima did not look at the sliver of exposed stomach that appeared when the shirt was stretched.

"Don't you have shit to turn on and cash registers to count?"

Kei's eyes were forced back into Kuroo's. He had been staring at the guy's shoulders to avoid looking at anything else. "Huh, yeah, I should probably do that."

So Tsukki turned around mechanically, heading for the sink at the back of the store, right next to the dark room. He emptied two plastic buckets full of water and strange black rectangles that apparently needed to soak overnight. He then put the mysterious black things back into the machines, a clipping noise being heard every time. When both the 35mm film and the printer machines were on, Tsukki walked back up to the front of the store and calculated the amount of money in the two cash registers. When he was done, he turned back to Kuroo with an expressionless face.

"Did you really plan on playing card games with me?" he asked incredulously.

Kuroo smiled nicely and shrugged. "I thought it'd be nice," he admitted in a serious but playful voice.

Kei sighed, but it wasn't from any negative emotion. He was just so very tired. "Alright, but you better know the rules to a good game really well because I don't know a single one."

Kuroo smirked as he took the cards out of the carton box and started shuffling them in a fancy way. Tsukishima blinked at him, feeling nothing about this.

"We'll play this really simple game, ok? It's like golf, but with cards. It's called... golf, actually."

"Pretty anticlimactic," Kei mumbled as he received his cards and waited to be told what to do with them.

Kuroo snickered sarcastically at him. "Don't look at the cards now, just place them in two rows of four, face down."

Kei placed his cards in order and waited for further instructions. Kuroo moved his cards around for a bit before he was content with the way they were placed. "Ok, I'll let you start since I'm a gentleman. You can turn two cards, doesn't matter which ones."

The blond shrugged and turned two cards that were next to each other on the bottom row.

"Ok, now the point is to make the lowest score possible, just like golf, so that queen isn't good. Kings are worth zero points but queens are 12 points. Sexism on full blast, I know."

Kei scoffed at Kuroo's remark, nodding his head no as he waited to be told what to do next with the situation.

"So here's what you're allowed to do: you can switch two cards together, or you can pick a card from the deck and put it in place of another card."

"Does the card I change need to be turned?" Kei asked, and it was the first time he was actually trying to learn to play by himself. It made Kuroo smirk at him.

"No, doesn't matter. Remember you could be throwing away a king or a joker, and if you do that, I'm the one who's going to take it, so I wouldn't recommend it."

Kei frowned. "What do jokers do?"

"Minus 5 points," Kuroo answered, and it was like the jokers were suddenly the holy grail of cards and they were the only ones that mattered. They shared a knowing look of competition before Tsukki picked a card from the deck and changed his queen of hearts for a 5 of spades.

Just as Kuroo was turning his two first cards, a breathless woman burst through the open door and made both the boys jump from surprise. As she made her way to the front desk, Kei only stared at her with a deep set frown of confusion between his eyes before he walked up to her with very visible apprehension.

The woman tried to take a deep breath before she spoke, but she was obviously having a hard time. Kuroo was getting ready to launch forward and catch her if she was to fall unconscious.

“I demand,” the woman started before she had to stop and breathe again, “to see your manager.”

The look on Tsukki’s face changed from confused worry to absolute stink face in the beat of a second. “I am the manager right now since I’m handling the store for the entire day, what can I help you with?”

The woman didn’t budge and she didn’t change her stance when she walked a step closer to the counter. Kuroo squinted at the attempt at dominance, despising the woman’s efforts to act intimidating in front of someone with the imposing presence of Tsukishima Kei.

“There has been an unacceptable mistake regarding one of my orders,” the furious woman claimed as she raised a finger up in the air.

Kei stayed stoic. “What was it, exactly?”

Kuroo wanted to applaud the way he was holding himself together. This woman had fire in her eyes, but Tsukishima had void.

“I was given someone else’s order! Private pictures, which it was not in my right to see! And I assume that my pictures went to a stranger as well, mmh?”

Kei sighed and pulled the drawer with the picture envelopes open. “Can I have your name, please?”

After the woman shared her name with poison on her tongue, Tsukishima found her order in the drawer. “We still have your pictures in our possession. Would you like me to refund the previous order? I could call my manager and give you your own order for free.”

That did not help the client calm down at all. “Didn’t you say you were the manager today? And you will just brush it off? That kind of mistake is unforgivable!”

Kuroo saw the exact moment the mask fell off of Tsukki’s face. He was fucking done. “Miss, I don’t know what kind of horrors you’ve seen on those pictures to be so pissed, but I’m not a therapist, so _please_ find someone else to whine at.”

“I’m _sorry_?” she asked, appalled. She brought a hand to her heart and gaped at Kei. “I will _not_ be talked to this way young man, you will get into trouble!”

“Did anyone die in result of this mishap?” Tsukishima asked, his face deadpan but his voice full of annoyance.

Kuroo snorted from where he was standing, but neither of the two persons in the room seemed to care about him. It was like two cow-boys fighting to know which one was going to stay in the city.

The woman clenched her jaw and threw the envelope on the counter. “Just give me my pictures,” she hissed between her teeth.

Tsukishima fetched the envelope from the drawer and handed it nicely to the client. “Pleasure doing business with you today.”

The wicked grin that followed did something strange to Kuroo’s stomach. It was like he had just been punched in the guts by an angel.

She stomped out of the store, mumbling things under her breath that were probably better left unheard. Tsukishima glared at the door for a couple of seconds before he walked back to the card game.

Kuroo was staring at him with round eyes. “What?” Tsukki asked with a shrug.

“That was pretty fucking hot,” Kuroo admitted before he could stop himself.

 

-

 

Kenma was sitting on the bathroom floor of Kuroo’s house, between Kuroo’s legs. The latter was sitting on the closed toilet bowl, with black plastic gloves on, a dye brush in one hand and a bowl full of bleach in the other.

“You probably didn’t freak him out,” Kenma reassured Kuroo as he applied a generous amount of the product on Kenma’s roots.

Kuroo made a strange noise between a wail and a sceptical scoff. “You didn’t see his face, Ken. He looked like he was about to be hit by a car.”

“You said he was hot, big deal,” Kenma answered while a piece of hair fell in front of his face. After he blew on it to get it out, he continued: “He’s probably not so prideful that he can’t take a compliment from a guy.”

“A compliment, Ken? It wasn’t a compliment. I was… I was probably looking at him like a piece of meat, _oh God_.”

“What is new,” Kenma sighed as he picked up the box that used to have the bleach products in it to occupy his hands.

Kuroo refrained from slapping him on the side of the head. “Everything is new, Kenma! This isn’t some random fucking dude I’m trying to sleep with, it’s… Tsukki.”

Kenma laughed with subtlety. It was adorable, but infuriating. “So Kei is confusing to you. Why?”

Kuroo was probably being a bit too rough with Kenma’s hair, but he didn’t care. “Because he’s him and he’s special, do I need to draw a fucking picture?”

“Special _how_ ,” Kenma insisted without a single emotion in his voice.

Kuroo exhaled, smoothing his hand over Kenma’s head and squeezing the boy’s hair a little. He wasn’t mad at Kenma, he could never be. He just didn’t want to face the facts. “I guess just like how _Shouyou_ is special to you.”

Kenma glared at his best friend over his shoulder, only capable of turning half of his head because of Kuroo’s hand keeping it in place as he applied the bleach. “You’re comparing totally different situations.”

“Am I now,” Kuroo replied with a naughty smirk.

Kenma kept quiet, fighting the urge to shoo Kuroo’s hands away and walk out of the room. “Shouyou’s my friend, we share common interests and he’s easy to talk to.”

Kuroo chose not to answer, taking his sweet time with Kenma’s hair so he would do a good job. His best friend welcomed the silence with a pleased sigh.

Tsukishima was kind of his friend. Not really, not yet. He didn’t know if they shared any common interest besides messing with each other. He was easy to talk to though, and he seemed to think that Kuroo was as well, if his monologue of pain and suffering from two weeks back told him anything. He had probably just ruined 8 weeks of almost friendship and heartfelt confidences.

When Kuroo finished applying the bleach on Kenma’s hair, he took the gloves off and grabbed his phone. He had to talk to the guy, even just 5 seconds. They had separated on such a strange note just hours ago and it was already too much to bear.

As Kenma left the room to go play on his DS for 20 minutes, Kuroo dialed Tsukishima’s number.

The blond answered with a detached _hello_. “Hi, Tsukki, am I bothering you?”

Kei sighed, loudly, forcefully. “ _There’s nothing to bother._ ”

Kuroo bit his lower lip. “I’m sorry,” he said, ashamed of his incapacity to hold his tongue.

“ _I don’t know what you’re apologizing for_ ,” Tsukki replied, obviously well aware of what this was about.

“Tsukki,” Kuroo replied simply, warning the other to not make him say it. “It just came out, I hope you don’t hate me.”

Tsukishima laughed in a clear, lifeless sound. “ _If I was to hate you for stupid stuff like that, I wouldn’t be speaking to you anymore._ ”

Kuroo was pleasantly surprised. “So we’re good? You’re not freaked out?”

Tsukki’s voice was warmer now. “ _Yeah, we’re good. I’m more surprised than freaked out._ ”

“Surprised?,” Kuroo echoed, elongating the second syllable of the word.

A short moment of silence followed. Then: “ _Well._ ”

Kuroo thought he knew what this was about. “Yeah,” he answered, hoping with all he had that he was getting this right. “I swear I won’t mention it again if it makes you uncomfortable, though.”

Tsukki took a sharp breath before he rushed in. “ _No, no, don’t – I don’t actually have a_ problem _with it, it’s just… I guess… I don’t know._ ”

Kuroo’s heart warmed up at how insistent Kei was on how this didn’t bother him while it clearly did. “You can say it makes you uncomfortable, it wouldn’t be the first time it happens to me.”

Kei didn’t speak for a long 5 seconds. “ _You think I’m homophobic,_ ” he then blurted out, sharp like a knife.

Kuroo's breath caught up in his throat at the cold, venomous tone of voice. “I…” he tried. “It’s just – I. I’m sorry, I just happen to expect those things from people. I’m sorry.”

“ _Don’t be,_ ” Kei replied with a hint of remorse in his voice, like he was angry at his own self for reacting too strongly. “ _You’re the one who had to get used to something like that, I shouldn’t be offended or… whatever._ ”

“Oh.” So it was just the part of expressing attraction towards him in particular. “It’s fine, you know. I know you’re not an asshole, Tsukki. I can trust you with this?”

Kei huffed a breath and mumbled something that sounded fond. “ _Of course you can,_ ” he said with an audible smile in his voice. “ _Just, next time you want to come out, find a more straightforward way._ ”

“I think it was pretty straightforward,” Kuroo joked, testing the waters by cannonballing his way into the damn pool.

The water was nice. “ _Minus the straight._ ”

“Tsukki!”

 

-

 

On Monday night, they had agreed to spend an evening together in the close future, to study and talk and “hang out like bros” as Kuroo put it. Kenma was going to see Shouyou in Miyagi for the weekend and their team didn’t have any more practices until they’d be back from the summer break, so Kuroo was free all weekend. They agreed on Saturday night, and Kuroo deemed it a new tradition called _“no pressure” hang outs_. It was a kind of _come over, do whatever, leave whenever_ type of deal. Kei did not object with the concept. He was looking forward to it, even. Kuroo texted him his address on Wednesday, obnoxiously telling him to “mark his fucking calendar!!!!”. Kei did write it on his phone’s agenda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He wasn't even supposed to come out in my original plan lmao  
> Coming out in innuendos and misunderstandings isn't ideal btw I don't recommend it
> 
> I cannot stress enough how encouraging it is to get comments, kudos and asks. So please, if you have some feedback, leave it in the way you prefer. You have no idea how happy it makes me to get comments and kudos for this fic. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading  
> Find me on tumblr @ [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/) as well
> 
> *I forgot to say next chapter is called "Hinata Shouyou's Problems" so do whatever u like with this information


	11. Hinata Shouyou's Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooookay we’re getting into the belly of the beast here ooh boy ooh boy

He should’ve just raised an eyebrow at him, deeming it another remark that didn’t deserve to be acknowledged. He should’ve said something like _I know right?_ to turn it into a joke. There’s a number of things that he should’ve done, but his brain chose to freeze.

The fact that Kuroo immediately went to cover his mouth and had that look of regret on his face probably helped Kei in this frozen brain decision. Kuroo had jokingly flirted with him before, this wasn’t new, but the reaction was new. Kei stared at Kuroo and waited for an explanation. He didn’t get one.

Kuroo was lost as what to say next, so Kei gave up and spoke first when he felt like he was capable to. “Is this your way of telling me something?”

“I’ll-” Kuroo tried as he started picking the cards up, “I’ll just…“

So he was leaving. Alright, fine, that answered the question. Kuroo didn’t even bother putting the cards back into the box, he left with one in each hand, refusing to look anywhere else than straight down at his feet. The blond wanted to yell at him that he was a dumbass and that it was fine, but he wasn’t so sure that it was fine.

 

-

 

When he got home from work, Kei had still not been able to clear his mind of the incident. He had thought about it for an embarrassing amount of time, actually. He should’ve been getting to dinner, but he just sat on his couch, stared at the wooden floor and thought. Kei had no problem with people that are attracted to their own gender, it would be hypocritical to say so, but the part that really fucked him up was that Kuroo was almost the picture perfect hot guy and he had called _him_ hot for being assertive and it just… _oh_.

 _God, no_. So this was how it was, then. Kei had had gay thoughts before, anyone would be lying if they said they hadn’t. The thing was he never thought much of them, since he was 99% sure that he’d never actually be in a relationship for his entire life. Gay thoughts didn’t bother him if there wouldn’t be any consequences.

This, though, this was a consequence. Kuroo hadn’t been joking when he called him hot and Kei wasn’t joking either when he realised he thought the same of Kuroo.

That boy was illegally perfect and Kei didn’t know what the fuck he should’ve been doing now. _What the fuck…_

It still didn’t make any type of sense, and Kei was flattered, sure, but he was also… _oh lord_.

This was new, too new, he couldn’t deal. Having gay thoughts was fine, thinking about acting on them wasn’t.

That explained the frozen brain, amongst other things. Like having to force himself not to look at Kuroo too much, or this uncontrollable urge to smile at his dumb fucking face all the damn time.

Kei was finally able to get up and get some food ready after this heavy realization. He scoffed to himself a couple of times as he did. This was a fucking mess.

His phone started ringing, and suddenly, he wasn’t amused anymore. He answered, and it turned out fine. It was all fine.

 

-

 

Kenma had just gotten off the train after 3 hours of having his face way too close to a strange-smelling unoccupied head rest, but at least he didn’t have to spend it next to an actual person. That would’ve been worse.

Saturday morning; well, morning, it was 11. If Kenma didn’t have to wake up before 6 more than once a week, 11 am would be morning much more often for him. Shouyou was waiting for him outside of the train, swaying from one feet to the other in excitement. Kenma blinked at him, slowly, warmly, and Shouyou beamed at him like a string of Christmas lights. That boy was the embodiment of the sun, and Kenma had to smile at him. A shy and subtle, Kenma smile, but a good one nonetheless. Kuroo would be teasing him about it.

Shouyou grabbed his friend's arm platonically, pulling him toward the exit of the building without even saying a word. He spoke when they walked outside. “I was so happy when you told me you could come over, I’ve told my mom to get snacks and we can play games if you want. Oh, and, oh my God, I had to find you a bed, you know, since you leave tomorrow and I’m not going to have you sleeping in the garden with the bugs and stuff. Anyway, yeah, I made you a bed next to mine and I _swear_ it’s the most comfortable thing on earth, well as far as futons go, and my mom says you can borrow her memory foam mattress, whatever that means.”

Shouyou didn’t even seem like he was out of breath after speaking for so long. Kenma gulped down and stared at the ground. “Well, thanks? For the bed and your mother’s… offer.”

“I don’t know what time you usually go to bed but I guess I could ask my mom to let us lay down a little later than I usually do, and I’m warning you right now I have a sister so she might try to bother us but I told her I’d put a spider in her bed if she did that.”

Kenma looked up at Shouyou, his face neutral after having listened to the run-on sentence in awe. “So she’s the one who gets to sleep with the bugs?”

Shouyou had the cutest laugh at that. “Yes!”

2 genuine smiles in less than 5 minutes for Kenma, this day would make history.

 

 

-

 

Kei got off the bus at the same stop he did for work, looking down on his phone’s GPS which said he was 5 minutes away from Kuroo’s house. 5 minutes of walking would be good to clear his head, which he hadn’t been able to do on the bus.

The reason he needed to clear his head, he wasn’t so sure he could put a finger on. They’d spoken on the phone again on Friday and everything was fine, they were capable of just talking about homework and other people like nothing had happened.

He didn’t get the time to think of anything, because Kuroo was meeting him halfway a minute later. “Scared I would get lost on the way?” Kei asked in a mocking voice.

“I wanted to take a walk,” Kuroo answered with a side smirk. “Wanna walk with me?”

Tsukki sighed exasperatedly. “I guess I don’t have a choice.”

“Tell me you want to do anything else and I’ll comply,” Kuroo replied while he crossed his arms.

“Walking is fine,” Kei decided with a little nod of his head, assuring Kuroo that that would indeed be enough, thanks a lot.

Kuroo raised his chin up in the air just a little, a satisfied look on his face. They walked in the empty streets of the calm neighbourhood, exchanging banalities about school. Kuroo suddenly remembered something 10 minutes into the walk, slowing to a halt and grabbing Tsukki’s shoulder. “I have a life and death question to ask you.”

Kei could already smell that this question would turn out to be bullshit. “Yeaaaah?....”

“Why do you have a fucking one year old profile pic on Facebook? Your hair’s all shaggy and you don’t even have the same glasses on it than you do now!”

“They’re my sport glasses,” is all Kei found to reply to that.

Kuroo tilted his head, pinched his lips, and his expression screamed something along the lines of _come on dude that’s all you’ve got to say in your defense? you’d make a horrible lawyer_.

“So what, I don’t often have people taking pictures of me, and I sure as hell won’t start taking selfies for your enjoyment,” Kei finally answered quickly.

Kuroo clicked his tongue in disappointment and shook his head. “No, no Tsukki you see that’s where you’re wrong. Selfies are good for the soul, they’re silly. Selfies help you grow as a person. Since I’ve started taking selfies, I’ve become a better person.”

A better circus freak. Tsukishima scoffed at Kuroo’s face.

“Ok, smartass, since you hate selfies but you don’t seem to mind group pictures, how about we take a _group selfie_?”

He made the concept of a group selfie sound like the next great step for mankind after the moon landing.

There was a dent in the plan, though. “But there’s only two of us. Is two people considered a group?”

Kei walked away with a strange, hostile looking smile on his lips. “I’m not taking a picture with you.”

“Tsukkiiiii,” Kuroo whined as he caught up to the blond. “Come on, I have pictures with all of my friends and I still need one with you that you could use to change your profile picture. Two birds one stone.”

“Sometimes I wonder what goes on in your head for _this_ kind of bullshit to be your priority.”

Kuroo brought a hand to his heart, touched. “You’re trying to understand me, how sweet. But hey!” he suddenly yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Kei. “You still haven’t accepted my friend’s request!”

Tsukishima gave up and pulled out his phone. “I turned my notifications off and I only use messenger, so I had no idea you even sent one. There, accepted.”

There was a pleased gleam in Kuroo’s eyes. “Thank you Tsuks.”

That dumb smile on Kuroo’s face only had Kei cracking up harder at that attempt at an original nickname. “What the fuck Kuroo,” the blond wheezed.

“Tsukki Tsuks,” is all that Kuroo said in return, and it did not help for shit.

Kei had to close his eyes and part his lips in a smile. He was way too tired, so laughing was all his brain could do in response to something stupid like that. Kuroo joined in eventually, glancing at Kei as he laughed good-heartedly.

Kuroo wasn’t done, though. “Also who’s that guy on your second profile pic?”

Kei squinted at Kuroo, but he was still mid-laugh. “That’s my brother, dude.”

“Wasn’t accusing you of anything,” Kuroo said as he rose both hands in the air innocently.

Kei tried to hold it in, but he could only laugh again. Oh, dear. He was beyond stressed out, so this unwinding was kind of nice, no matter how strange it was. “If you want to take your dumb picture, you better do it now.”

“What, really?” Kuroo stammered as he looked for his cellphone and pulled it out of his jacket’s pocket. He walked a step closer to Tsukishima and put the phone up to get ready for a picture. “Ok so serious pic or silly pic?”

Tsukki clicked his tongue. “Is an in-between possible?”

“In-between it is,” Kuroo proclaimed before he tilted his head and smiled with his tongue between his teeth. Kei just looked at him and laughed at his face. On the picture, Kei looked like a happy fool. It wouldn’t be too bad for a profile pic, he realized.

 

-

 

Kei was about to say “sorry for the intrusion” when Kuroo’s phone started ringing. They had walked around for an absurd amount of time, and it was pretty late now. There was probably a handful of people who’d be calling at this hour, himself aside. That was either Kenma, Bokuto, or some strange _you won a trip to the Bahamas_ type of scam call. From the look on Kuroo’s face, it wasn’t the Bahamas.

Tsukishima stayed in the doorway with his shoes and his jacket on, his forehead and his eyebrows creasing in worry and unhealthy curiosity. Everyone was guilty of that once in a while.

Midway through the phone conversation that Kei couldn’t hear because Kuroo was all the way in his kitchen and Kei was still in the entryway, the older boy glared at him accusingly. Kei was definitely lost.

Kuroo walked up to him angrily and took the phone off his ear. “Hinata just fucking ditched Kenma to go rescue some brooding asshole,” Kuroo explained, and that was absolutely not something Kei expected.

“What?”

“Kenma’s on the phone right now and he just told me that,” Kuroo continued, easing his tone a little bit, but still looking on edge.

Tsukishima grabbed his own phone and opened the messaging app. “Where is he right now?”

Kuroo glared at the blond, surprised, and he brought the phone back to his ear. “Are you still at his place?” he asked Kenma.

Kei took the moment he had to text Hinata.

 

[10:02] Kei

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me

 

“He’s at the train station,” Kuroo said as he lowered the phone again.

Kei nodded. “He should get here around 1 am.”

“Problem is, the train stops at midnight, so he’ll have to get off the train at whatever stop he’ll be at by that time,” Kuroo replied with a worried pout.

Tsukishima knew where this was going. “We’re going to have to pick him up, aren’t we?”

Kuroo smiled and winced at the same time. That meant yes.

 

 

-

 

“So,” Kuroo started really loud to grab Tsukki’s attention. The blond was still trying to reach Hinata via text. “Tell me stuff about that ginger guy so I have blackmail material.”

Kei scoffed. “Hinata’s like a puppy, he probably has no idea that there’s anything wrong with what he did.”

Kuroo rolled his eyes, and Kei caught it. “I didn’t ask you to defend him.”

Kei shrugged. “I’m biased.”

“Well so am I,” Kuroo replied as he shook his head a little as if it made his words more important.

“I agree that Hinata’s a dumbass and sort of an asshole right now,” Kei admitted as Kuroo glared at him as if to say _no shit_. “And it’s pretty sad to say, but if you want to get along with him, you’ve got to accept that he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing. You’d throw a volleyball in a volcano and he’d dive after it.”

After 30 seconds of silence and staring at the road with an expressionless face, Kuroo just whispered: “That’s kind of endearing actually.”

Kei had to laugh at that. “Yeah, I know. I fucking hate him, but after 3 years you can’t not… appreciate him. Somehow.”

“Wow,” Kuroo said with a face that was normally followed by a hand over the heart, but he was keeping both of his hands on the wheel. “That’s the most emotion I’ve ever seen you express. Like, even negative emotions!”

Kei clicked his tongue. “Whatever you say. How long until we get there?”

Kuroo smiled sheepishly. “45 minutes, at least. Unless my foot gets heavier.”

“Better not, or we’ll get there too early and we’ll have to wait for Kenma instead of the opposite.”

Kei’s unconscious plan to keep Kuroo smiling worked. “You like to be expected, do you?”

His plan backfired, and he couldn’t hold down his own closed-lip smile.

 

-

 

They were all quiet after Kenma closed the car door after himself. Kuroo turned to look at him on the backseat, but he didn’t say anything. Kenma’s gaze shifted from Kuroo’s face to the back of Kei’s head. “Right, you guys had a thing tonight. Sorry.”

“Kenma,” Kuroo snips as he raises a finger. “Tsukki and I were having fun, weren’t we?”

Kuroo was now looking at Kei expectantly, but Kenma cut whatever was going to be said. “You don’t need to humour him.”

Kuroo sighed impatiently. “Don’t act like you’re a burden Kenma, we all know whose fault this is.”

Kei was looking straight ahead, refusing to have either Kuroo or Kenma in his field of vision. It was sort of his fault if Kenma met Hinata. He was feeling a little bad, even though he hadn’t done it on purpose.

Kenma exhaled sadly and Kei felt significantly worse. Kuroo looked like he wanted to yell _TOLD YOU SO_ and wrap Kenma up in a blanket and hug him really tight at the same time. Kei didn’t exactly know what Kuroo was feeling smug about, though.

“Let’s go home, yeah?” Kuroo asked in the softest voice he could manage. Kenma was staring down at his knees.

“Yeah,” he answered feebly.

Kuroo started the car again and left the train station’s parking lot. The three boys kept quiet for 15 minutes until Kuroo decided to smoothen the atmosphere. “Maybe he couldn’t find a good reason for fleeing because he’s Batman.”

Surprisingly, Kenma made a noncommittal laughing noise, and Kei smiled as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M FUCKING SORRY  
> NEXT CHAPTER IS CALLED "Aren't You Tired?" CALL YOUR MOMS TO TELL THEM  
> My own mom said "That's real nice honey"
> 
> Tumblr is [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/) follow me if u want more updates on how I'm dead inside, dying physically, etc.
> 
> Reminder that the comments are what keeps me going. Your feedback is absolutely crucial and I love you all!
> 
> The next chapter might take a little longer than two weeks... I'm sorry I'm just really busy with school :(


	12. Aren't You Tired?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so now I should be more available for y’all! Well, then again, I started this while I was on Christmas break because I thought I’d have more time and it turned out I didn’t have that much time on my hands. I promise I’ll get through this before summer is over tho! The rest of the story is already all mentally written, I just need to note it and rewrite it on my computer. Bear with me for a couple more months :)

Tsukishima had just finished opening the store when his phone chimed with the ringtone of a new text message being received. He took his phone and squinted his eyes at the sender’s name. Angrily, he opened the message.

 

[09 :12] Hinata

What happened????

[09 :12] Kei

You terrible human being, what do you think happened?

[09:13] Hinata

IDK what were talking about!!!

[09:13] Kei

You left Kenma all alone for hours in your house without explaining where you went, you stupid child

[09:14] Hinata

I did explain! Kageyama needed help

[09:14] Kei

Was he dying?

[09:14]

Kenma’s not the type of person you can pull this sort of shit on. Do you still not realize what is wrong?

[09:16] Hinata

Kageyama was sad! I didn’t think I just took off. Kenma won’t answer me anymore…..

[09:17] Kei

Look, I’m gonna tell you this once. You can’t treat Kenma like you treat your other friends

[09:17] Hinata

WHy????

[09:18] Kei

It’s not my place to tell you that.

 

-

 

“Fuck,” Bokuto spat, his eyes wide in shock, but his face pleased and impressed.

“Fuck,” Kuroo replied with a dent between his eyebrows and a silent laugh on his lips.

“That’s some fucking running,” the gym employee commented as she proudly crossed her arms in front of her stomach. “That’s what I like to see around here.”

Kenma was oblivious to the idiots talking next to him, since he was focused on the music coming from his earbuds and his feet hitting the treadmill at a gorgeous pace.

“He’s so graceful,” Bokuto said after taking a hand to his own chin and stroking it as he looked like he was in deep thought. “Anger really brings out the best in him.”

Kuroo nodded twice with a sharp smile on his lips. “He’s like a gazelle. He can do anything in the world.”

“That he sure can,” Bokuto affirmed with a complementary nod.

Ena, the gym employee and team manager, scrunched up her nose. “You guys are weird.”

“Thanks,” Kuroo replied, dragging on the ‘s’ sound.

Bokuto turned to her, smiling wide. “He just came back from a disappointing experience and that’s how he’s dealing. We’re proud of him.”

“Ah, well then,” the young girl exclaimed with a happy clap of her hands. “Power to him.”

Kuroo couldn’t agree more. “I’ll bring him a water bottle and a hair tie, and then we should get to it too.”

Bokuto gave a distant “yeah, yeah” as he stayed captivated by Kenma running as fast as he could on the treadmill he normally used. The raw power that was coming out of the intense look in his eyes was enough to scare him forever. Never make Kenma angry. Never make Kenma sad. He’d repeat it like a mantra all his life.

Kuroo came back with the said items, and Kenma just took what was handed to him without a single word. He tied his hair up in a bun and he discarded the bottle in the cup holder. Nothing could faze him at this moment.

Kuroo grabbed his phone with a smirk and left the general area so he wouldn’t be seen when he’d take a short video of Kenma to show Tsukki. He captioned it “look at this shit he’s angry running” to which Tsukki replied “he’s so well adjusted”. He guessed today was national praise Kenma day. The poor boy deserved it.

 

-

 

Kei had been reading a book for the last hour, and he was thinking of heading for a shower and going to bed afterwards. Just as he was putting his bookmark between the pages, his phone started buzzing with an incoming call. It was on silent, like everything in the apartment. “Stray cat” appeared on the screen.

This would probably be about homework, but it could be about Kenma (and consequently, Hinata). When the blond picked up, Kuroo started rambling about formulas and numbers and how he was totally lost and probably going to fail an exam.

“Kuroo,” Kei chimed to stop him, anticipating another panic attack. “Take a deep breath and explain what you don’t understand.”

He heard the boy laugh happily. “ _I’m fine Tsukki, I’m just a little energetic. You probably have no idea what my homework is about anyway._ ”

“I admit it’s pretty blurry so far,” Kei said, monotonous. “You’re sure you’re not distraught? It’s pretty late to still be doing math.”

Kuroo shifted around a little before he answered. “ _I’ve only got one class at 10 and no morning practice tomorrow._ ”

Lucky, Kei thought. “Alright, what do you need help on?”

When Kei thought Kuroo was going to get an answer pretty quickly, the other side of the line fell dead silent. He was about to check if the call was still connected when he heard Kuroo’s exhale in the receiver. “ _Aren’t you tired?_ ” he asked confusedly.

“Uh, no, I’m - uh, I’m fine. I can try to help.”

“ _No, I mean…_ ” another loud exhale, “ _aren’t you tired of your place being so quiet all the time?_ ”

And again, suddenly, Kei was overwhelmed with all the noise coming from Kuroo’s house at once. There was someone doing the dishes in the kitchen, soft music playing in Kuroo’s room, the sound of a body moving against the sheets.

Kei shut his eyes a little bit too hard. His eyelids were scrunching from the pressure. “I’m so fucking tired,” he admitted.

Kuroo sounded relieved and sad at the same time. “ _I’m coming over,_ ” the boy said without warning, and Kei could hear him standing up and walking out of his room, which made him panic a little. He heard him tell his mom that he was going out for a while and that he’d come back before the last bus.

Kei shook out of his haze when he heard Kuroo opening the front door. “Wait, what – wait a second Kuroo it’s like… it’s 11, you don’t even know where I live, -“

 “ _I guess you should tell me, then,_ ” Kuroo replied with a smile in his voice. That smug bastard.

Kei wanted to lie down on the floor and hide his face under his arms for the next 3 hours. “Go back to your house and go to sleep.”

“ _You just trusted me with something incomprehensible that spurted from deep emotions of loneliness, I’m not leaving you to deal with that on your own,_ ” Kuroo announced as he walked on the sidewalk.

Kei opened wide eyes at what he’d just heard. “Trusted you…” he chorused in disbelief. Kuroo laughed on the other end of the phone.

“ _I’m bringing a movie that’ll cheer you up and I’ll get some popcorn on the way. You better text me your address.”_

He couldn’t believe this was happening, out of the thousand outcomes this phone call could’ve had. Kei had no idea if he was pleased with the way it had turned out or not. “You… I guess I don’t have a choice.”

“ _You do,_ ” Kuroo said as he audibly stopped walking. “ _If you really don’t want me to come over I’ll go back home._ ”

There would be nothing wrong with Kuroo coming over. There was no logical reason to push him away. Yet, Kei had a feeling he should’ve been telling him to walk home. “No, don’t, idiot. I’ll text you the address.”

“ _Make up your mind, Tsuks._ ” Kei still hated the nickname, but it made him smile.

 

-

 

Kei was walking around his apartment nervously. He had no idea what was happening, he had no idea why it was happening, all he knew was that Kuroo would be there in a matter of minutes and that he wasn’t so comfortable with the motives of his impromptu visit. Sure, Tsukishima’s place was empty, silent and a little bit sad, but it was alright regardless. He had food in the fridge, plenty of natural light, a good bed, a nice enough bathtub that he wasn’t too cramped in. It was nice. He did not need a Kuroo in his apartment, or noise, or anything for that matter. The only important thing was that he did not live in the street.

The thought of a movie was undeniably nice, all things considered. It had been a while since Kei had sat down and concentrated on a movie long enough to relax and get his mind off things. Whatever those things were.

But the “things” would be sitting next to him, and that would probably boost the difficulty level of the seemingly simple task.

Kei was resting his weight with his hip against the kitchen counter when he heard steps in the stairway and, soon after, a knock on the door. He straightened up and went to answer it quickly.

Kuroo was wearing those form fitting Adidas pants that he always wore when he came to the photo place, and Kei had never had a problem with them until today. Those pants needed to be taken out of stores right this instant.

It’s not like Tsukki didn’t have a similar pair in his sportswear drawer, but honestly, they looked a lot better on Kuroo.

The blond raised his eyes to meet Kuroo’s gaze. The other boy was smiling nicely, which was a pleasant change from the usual nasty grin or the playful smirk. Not that Kei did not like those two other smiles.

Kuroo started shaking a DVD box in front of Kei’s face, looking excited about whatever movie was in that box. “Ready?”

Kei raised an eyebrow and leaned against the door nonchalantly. “What am I supposed to be ready for?”

“Wet hot American summer, my child,” Kuroo declared proudly, walking in the apartment by the empty space next to Kei. “It’s a comedy, it has subtitles.”

“I can understand English,” Kei replied, turning toward Kuroo after closing the door.

Kuroo had a short laugh, but he kept walking inside the living room. “Of course you do, how dare I be thoughtful?”

Kei frowned, but he followed the boy deeper in the apartment. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know,” Kuroo breathed in a reassuring way as he turned to Kei, almost making him run into his visitor. “You are just excellent at everything and I have to get used to it.”

The look in Kuroo’s eyes was absolutely unreadable, so it was kind of unsettling that it did not budge. Kei had to be the one to look away first. “Are we watching your dumb movie?” He asked impatiently, suddenly self-conscious under Kuroo’s focused stare.

A smile broke on Kuroo’s face. “Where are your remotes?”

Kei showed him how to work the television and the blu-ray player, and when it was finally all set, Kuroo went to get the bag of popcorn he bought on the way there. When he got back in the living room, Kei seemed absorbed by the logo bumping against the edges of the screen. “Hey, dude, imma popcorn you.”

Kei turned to Kuroo, but he soon understood that it had been a mistake when he got the bag of popcorn to the face.

 

-

 

An hour into the movie, after Paul Rudd had thrown the second kid out of the moving car, Kuroo spared a glance at Tsukki, knowing damn well that the boy was asleep. Sure enough, his eyes were closed and his breathing was slower. He looked like an exhausted child on Christmas night.

Kuroo finished the movie on his own, turned off the tv and the blu-ray player, and attempted to wake Tsukki up. “Tsuks,” he said in a mellow voice that was just loud enough to wake someone up. It did not work. “Tsukki,” Kuroo tried again, a little louder and more insistent.

Kei blinked, slowly coming back from his slumber. “Movie’s over?” he asked in the middle of a yawn.

Kuroo had a warm smile. “You missed the best part.” He pulled out his hands and offered them to Kei. “Come on, sleepy boy.”

Tsukishima glared at Kuroo’s hands with his swollen eyes, and that sight seemed to be comical to Kuroo who chuckled openly. His amusement did not stop when Kei grabbed his hands and let himself be led to his own bedroom. Once he was close enough to his bed, he let go of Kuroo’s hands and fell face first on the mattress.

Kuroo squatted next to the bed, looking at Kei with some emotion on his face that did not need to be identified. Tsukki rolled around to escape Kuroo’s gaze.

“I’ll be going now,” the older boy said as an information more than a warning.

Kei was half asleep already. Sometimes, his ability to fall asleep anytime, anywhere was not necessarily super great. “Be careful,” is what came out as a goodbye.

Kuroo’s expression was as charmed and bright as it could get, probably. Kei had no statistics on that. Also, only then did he register that he had turned back around to look at Kuroo. He was too tired to hold back his urges.

“Sleep well,” the boy answered before he left the room and, shortly afterwards, the apartment. The silence didn’t even have the chance to be heard before Kei fell asleep for good.

 

-

 

Kuroo was running to the bus stop, crossing his fingers with his hands pushed deep inside his jacket’s pockets, hoping he wouldn’t be late for the last bus of the night.

With a relieved sigh, he saw that a couple people were waiting at the bus stop and that the next bus was still a couple of lights away. He bumped his shoulder against the bus shelter and took a deep breath. Then, the nervous laugh he’d been holding in came out, making everyone around him turn their heads toward him questioningly.

He was definitely falling for that guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i'm not officially done with school but most of my big projects are done so I have more time to write. Next chapter is already like 3/4 written (has been for like 3 months....... it's one of my favorite parts so look forward to it) so it'll probably be posted in a week or less. 
> 
> I can never stress this enough, comments, kudos and asks are my life strenght! my only energy! my light in the dark etc. I will love you forever if you give me feedback.
> 
> next chapter is called "My Mom's Not Home" GO NUTS


	13. My Mom's Not Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was fast! The biggest part of this had been written for a while. It’s probably the second part of this story I’ve ever written. Eager to get to the good stuff, one would say.

Kei and Kuroo had been chatting for a while, enjoying an afternoon in the store with barely any disruption. The clients were making themselves rare when it was this beautiful outside.

“Hey, were you able to reach Hinata yet?” Kuroo asked at one point, changing the subject from A to Z. “Kenma’s been in his angry-sad mood for more than a week and I’m starting to get worried.”

Kei sighed dramatically, thinking about the short text conversation he’d had with Hinata. “He did text me back the day after. I tried to give him hints on why he did something wrong but I think he needs a strong shove more than a nice push.”

“Ah,” Kuroo breathed out like he was let down. “You know, Ken admitted he was crushing on the guy when I took him home after I dropped you to the bus stop.”

“Poor guy,” Kei answered with wide eyes and a raise of his eyebrows. “I mean, I’ve seen what that does to people.”

Kuroo squinted at him, worriedly, but curiously too.

That look was textbook _are we pretending to talk about someone else while we’re talking about you?_ “No, I don’t mean me, idiot. Kageyama.”

Of course. Obviously. That _fucking-_ “So Ken was right to worry.”

“Hinata is as oblivious to Kageyama as he is to Kenma,” Kei corrected hastily, surprising Kuroo.

“Could you try to do something, then?” Kuroo was getting ready to break out the puppy dog eyes.

Kei took a step back, wary. “What kind of something?”

Kuroo rolled his eyes in front of Tsukki’s hesitance. “Like, explain it to him? Face to face?”

The awkwardness of that conversation was already setting deep into Kei’s bones and he wasn’t even thinking that hard about what it would look like. “That would be like explaining the theory of relativity to a two year old.”

“He can’t be that emotionally oblivious,” Kuroo exclaimed with a deep set frown.

Kei sighed loudly. “You’d be surprised.”

The older boy groaned, running his hands on his face. “Ok then, I’ll talk to him, I’ll call him and curse him the fuck out for making my best friend sad and ruining our no pressure hangout.”

Kei scoffed at Kuroo’s statement.

“And then I’d ask him what your major is because I’m sure he knows,” Kuroo added at last with a smirk, and Kei looked up in desperation.

“I thought you’d finally given up on that,” Tsukki answered as his eyes went back to gaze into Kuroo’s. “Programming.”

Kuroo’s smile fell, but it was soon replaced by an expression that could only be described as pure euphoria. “You told me! You just told me your big secret! Oh my God, wait a sec I gotta call my mom. Programming? Like computers? Dude!”

He was walking from left to right, lounging the counter like a headless chicken as he dialed on his phone. Kei had learned to accept things like that, so he was only looking at Kuroo with mild disinterest through the whole ordeal. “Why would your mom care about that?”

“I’ve told her about the mystery! She was very eager to know also.”

Kei stared at Kuroo, a little lost. “She doesn’t even know me.”

“My mother’s curiosity is more powerful than anything else in the world, maybe except Hinata’s lack of emotional capabilities.”

That was enough of a justification for Kei. Kuroo brought the phone to his ear and waited for his mother to answer the phone. After about 5 seconds, she picked up. “Mom, Tsukki told me about his major! Yeah! Programming!”

Kei never felt so interesting in his life, and it wasn’t even on purpose. “No mom, he won’t fix your laptop. No, I’m not gonna ask him.”

Tsukishima had to hold back his snicker at that. “Tonight? Yeah, ok. Wait, can I have someone over? Yeah? Thanks mom. Ok, bye, love you.”

Kuroo ended the call and pushed the phone into his pants pocket before he looked back at Tsukki. “My mom’s not going to be home tonight. She has a date.”

Kei stayed deadpan. “What does that have to do with me?”

“No pressure hangout take 2, dude!”

 

-

 

Tsukishima still couldn't comprehend, for the life of him, why he was standing in front of that door. The first time he’d been over, he hadn’t taken the time to look at the house. Kuroo lived in a brown house in a boring neighbourhood, a nice family house that didn't look too old, and Tsukishima would've mocked the fact that Kuroo still lived at home if he didn't envy him so much. When Kuroo opened the door, Tsukki still had his hand stuffed inside his hoodie's pockets and a look on his face like he was mad at the world. It wasn't exactly the way he wanted to present himself to Kuroo, but the latter still had this weird fondness in his smile when he looked at the blond. Kei kept his hands there and didn't stop pouting.

"Hey you," Kuroo greeted Tsukki as he opened the door wider to let him in. The house smelled like food, but in a nice way, like a grandparent’s house almost.

Tsukishima passed the threshold without a word, taking his shoes off on the carpet while Kuroo closed the door. "I brought movies, if you want to watch something," the younger said as he took his bag off his shoulder by sliding the handle over his head, ruffling his hair in the process. It fell back a little crazy, and Kuroo had a warm smile when he noticed it.

"I know you wanted to study, but I thought..."

"It's fine, Tsukki," Kuroo reassured him as he took his guest's coat and left it on the kitchen table. "I just wanted to spend time with you, so you can watch your movie while I study, I don't mind."

Tsukishima gazed at him doubtfully, but he still followed Kuroo to his room (because the only tv in the house was in his room, as Kuroo explained). While Kei was getting the tv ready and figuring out how to work the remotes, Tetsurou took his notes out from his schoolbag and dropped them on his bed.

"Ugh, you can just sit on the bed and I'll try to take as little space as possible," Kuroo whined as he looked at the pile of notebooks like it had killed his mother.

Tsukki sighed as he sat on his knees on the left side of the bed. "You dumbass, it's your bed, I'm the one who's gonna sit in a corner and act like I'm not here."

Kuroo then proceeded to crawl on the bed toward Tsukishima and pull on his long legs so he'd unfold them. "You take all the space you need, I didn't invite you over to be greedy."

The youngest simply gazed at the other like he wasn't impressed in the least. After a couple of seconds, he shrugged and sat comfortably on the bed with his legs spread flat on the mattress. He pressed play on the remote and watched as the movie he chose started playing on the tv.

Kuroo picked up one of his notebooks and opened it to the only page that was bookmarked by a blue sticker. They stayed in silence for a while, until Kuroo asked Tsukki to help him memorize something for 5 minutes, and then they were back to their own things.

“Say,” Kuroo interrupted at some point, “when are you leaving for your break again?”

“Tomorrow,” Tsukki answered with a yawn, keeping his eyes on the television. “My brother’s going to pick me up after work.”

Kuroo nodded. “So you’re leaving after 6?”

“Yeah,” Kei simply replied, and Kuroo shook his head again.

He really hated the selfish thought that got into his head at this moment. Kuroo didn’t want Tsukki to leave for 2 weeks, even though he knew that it was something Kei needed really badly. He’d grown used to seeing him at least once a week, more if they could. Two weeks without seeing each other would be strange. They went silent again after that.

An hour into the movie, Tsukishima was starting to get sleepy. He tried really hard to keep his eyes open, but all his saw between his eyelids was a strange blur. Like a child, he rubbed his eyes to try to stop the blurriness. "Mmmtired," he said to Kuroo, laying his head down on a pillow.

"Do you want to sleep?" Kuroo's voice was soft, comforting, and Tsukki felt like he might have fallen asleep right there.

Tsukishima tried to shrug, but he had no idea if the command left his brain to be performed by his body. His eyes were closed and they would not open unless he made great efforts. "I don't know," Tsukki finally mumbled, barely understandably. Kuroo couldn't help the smile tugging at his lips.

"Well, you can sleep a little bit. I'll wake you up when my mom gets here," Kuroo whispered, and Tsukishima took it as his cue because he was already sound asleep when Kuroo finished talking. It was absolutely adorable.

Kuroo stood up to stop the movie and turn off the tv. When he sat back down on the bed, he spent a good minute just looking at Tsukishima, staring at his peaceful face and his relaxed body. "Wow, ain't I the creep," he murmured humorlessly to himself when he went back to his studying.

Around 45 minutes passed before his mom came back, 45 minutes Kuroo spent trying to study and stealing glances at Tsukishima. Kuroo stood up carefully, watching Tsukki the whole time to make sure he wasn't waking him up, and he walked out of his room. Kuroo's mother was taking her shoes off next to the door, paying no mind to the extra pair of shoes next to her son's or the coat on the table. Even though Bokuto and Kenma were often coming over, she wasn't the kind of person to notice what coat or shoes they were normally wearing, so she probably thought that either one of them was over.

"Mom," Kuroo started when he walked into the kitchen, "Tsukki is here and he's very tired. I don't want him to walk home like that. Can he stay the night?"

His mom waved her hand in the air, a non-comital way to say _proceed_. Kuroo would've walked back to his room, but his mother's lack of enthusiasm made him curious.

"Bad date?" he asked empathetically, like a friend at a girl dinner.

His mom made a funny face at him and Kuroo laughed quietly. "Yeah, old fashioned guy."

The smile left Kuroo's face immediately. "It's not because of me, is it?"

The single mom rolled her eyes as she walked up to her son. "Even if it was, I'd rather have you than a man who can't even let my son live his life, so it's no loss there really."

Kuroo raised his eyebrows at his mother. She had both her hands on his shoulder, and it was sort of calming. He sighed, smiling back at her finally. "Love you, mom."

"Love you too," she said as she wrapped her arms around Kuroo's neck and hugged him.

When they stepped apart, Kuroo wished his mom a good night and walked back to his bedroom. Tsukishima was still sleeping on top of the covers with an arm under the pillow, laying down on his side. After he took all the notebooks off his bed, Kuroo lied down next to Tsukishima slowly, pulling out a hand to brush over his shoulder. "Tsukki. Tsukki wake up."

Kei made a strange noise between snorting and gasping, and he woke up a little startled. "Kuroo," he whined then, and his eyes were not focused on anything, his glasses all askew on his face. Tetsurou reached out to take them off, and Tsukishima mumbled something about putting them on a table. Kuroo couldn't contain his smile in front of how cute Tsukki was being. "I'm putting them on the bedside table ok?"

No answer. Kuroo sighed as he turned around to put the glasses away. He was right to ask his mother, the guy was gone for the night.

"Do you mind sleeping here?" Kuroo asked a half-asleep Tsukishima who tried to look at Kuroo with unfocused and glossy eyes.

His answer this time was to turn his face to the pillow and groan in it. Kuroo smirked at that, pulling on the sheets to cover Tsukishima. "You're one adorable little fucker, you know that?"

Kei was asleep again, and Tetsurou was awestruck.

 

-

 

When Tsukki woke up from a strange, unsettling dream that he forgot about as soon as he opened his eyes, he couldn't tell if what was before him was real or not. He was confused and the only thing that felt familiar was the guy sleeping in front of him. Kuroo's face was innocent and calm, two things that the boy himself was not. Somehow, it still felt like common ground for Tsukki.

He scouted closer, nudging Kuroo's arm to crawl underneath it. This startled Kuroo who woke up just as Tsukishima was pressing his head to Kuroo's shoulder.

Still drowsy from sleep, Kuroo stared at Tsukki in disbelief for a while before accepting his fate and wrapping his arm around the sleeping boy. Tsukishima had probably been half asleep and unaware of what he was doing, but if he wanted to cuddle, Kuroo wasn't going to say no. He sure wasn't.

The alarm clock on the bed side table informed Kuroo that it was 3 am. They would sleep like that for a while, and Tetsurou wasn't complaining.

 

-

 

When Tsukishima woke up, he didn't move at first, enjoying the weight on his hip and the soft fabric he had his face pressed in in blissful ignorance. He was so, so comfortable, until he wondered what time it was. He groaned and opened his eyes as a familiar smell finally woke him up. Kuroo's hair, Kuroo's clothes, Kuroo's bed. His head shot up from under the covers, pushing Kuroo's arm away in a brutal swing. His mind was skipping on a tape of "what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck".

Kuroo startled awake, obviously confused but still ready to fight whatever had attacked him until he noticed Tsukishima sitting across from him with a nervous frown on his face and a powerfully clenched jaw.

"What?" Kuroo asked as he braced himself for the shit storm that would be thrown at him.

Tsukishima parted his lips, but he took a while to speak. "What was that?"

Kuroo shrugged innocently, keeping his shoulders up as he nodded. "I don't know."

Tsukki was angry, and Kuroo just wanted him back in his arms to keep sleeping. "How can you not know?"

"You woke up at three am and you did that on your own, I just went with it."

Kei frowned more severely at Kuroo, but the bastard was barely awake and he didn't look like he had the energy to lie.

Kuroo sighed, reaching for one of Tsukki's hand. The blond let him take it half-heartedly before pulling his hand away. "No, no way."

Kuroo sat up in the bed, concern shaking his sleepiness away. "What's wrong?" His voice was soft, and Tsukki had to press a hand to his face after he heard that.

"Everything, all of this is very wrong," the blond mumbled behind his hand.

Kuroo squinted, the hints of a smile showing on his lips. "What is this really about, Tsukki?"

"First of all, the fact that you call me that," Kei started without taking his hand away, "and I'm not... you shouldn't let me do stuff like that."

Poor Tsukishima was embarrassed beyond measure, keeping his face hidden in his hand as if he couldn't be seen like that. "You're not what?" Kuroo insisted.

Of course that would be the only thing he hears. Tsukishima sighed angrily in his hand, shaking his head in frustration. They'd just spent a couple hours cuddling, it wasn't negligible.

Kei took his hand off but kept his eyes closed. He had to tell him. "I... you have to swear to listen and just... not judge."

Kuroo's eyebrows lifted up in curiosity and he nodded once. Tsukki took a deep breath.

"That's the first time I've done anything like that," the blond spat out before he'd chicken out. "I've never hugged anyone like that, never kissed anyone, never... anything."

Tsukki was getting ready for the _but you're 18!_ and the _ok are you keeping yourself for the Lord?_ , but Kuroo was just looking at him with a small smile, like he was cute or something. He didn't say anything, so Tsukki asked "What?" in a quiet voice, and Kuroo just smiled wider.

"I'm your first cuddle buddy," Kuroo explained, his dopey smile turning into a full-teeth smile.

Tsukishima blushed even though he tried very hard not to. "Oh, come on..."

Kuroo took his hand again. "Don't mind it, Tsuks. I wasn't much younger than you when I started... all that. But yeah, don't feel bad because of that. I'll never make you do anything, you know that."

To Tsukishima, it felt like he was being told this wasn’t just a random thing. Kuroo would do it again if he had the opportunity to. He would do more if he could. It was all so foreign and sudden when the blond realised he was okay with that.

"Thank you," Kei whispered when he rolled closer to Kuroo again.

"Welcome," his cuddle buddy answered as he hugged him close, pressing his face in the messy blond hair. "There'll be an alarm at 7."

"Ok," Tsukki replied, a frown on his face. "This is really fine though?"

Kuroo laughed, but it was a pure and happy laugh. "Of course it is. You can use me as a pillow whenever you want."

"I'm taking your word for it," the blond joked lightly, nuzzling his face in Kuroo's shoulder.

"You're comfortable with this too, right?" Kuroo asked, suddenly unsure. Kei pulled his head away from where he had been rubbing it to glare at Kuroo like he was an absolute moron. "What? You were alarmed by that very situation like 2 minutes ago!"

Tsukki's forehead slamed back into Tetsurou's shoulder, and the latter knew it was to hide his shame. "Let's just sleep."

Kuroo smiled softly, having no idea of what he'd done to deserve this. He held Tsukki a little closer, breathing in his hair in response.

After a while of seriously wondering what the hell he was doing, Kei gave up and surrendered to the warmth and the easiness of Kuroo's embrace. It would be a bold faced lie to say that he hadn't just had one of his best nights of sleep in months.

So he fell asleep with his face pressed against Kuroo's shoulder, like it was the one thing he had always been supposed to do: quickly, and with a subtle smile on his lips.

 

-

 

[18:30] Stray cat

Are you on your way now?

[18:30] Kei

Yeah, we left 5 minutes ago

[18:32] Stray cat

I’m glad

[18:33]

I’ll miss you

[18:34] Kei

You’re gonna need to be more patient than that

 

Kei knew Kuroo would understand that it meant he’d miss him too. He opened his contact list and changed “Stray cat” for “Kuroo”. He did hesitate for one second as he opted to put in “Cuddle buddy”, but that could’ve been incriminating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was that now :)
> 
> This might not be what some of y'all had in mind, but it's still a step forward and I can't believe I'm posting this, it felt so far away when I began the story.
> 
> Next chapter is called "Home"
> 
> We will help Hinata Shouyou soon, don't lose hope
> 
> Yell at me in the comments please xxx
> 
> Tumblr is also [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/)


	14. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The feedbacks I’ve gotten for this fic just floor me. You’re all so sweet, I love you all so much! Chapter 14 already!
> 
> [abelas-art](http://abelas-art.tumblr.com/post/144028064606/on-the-picture-kei-looked-like-a-happy-fool-it) has made fanart of the KuroTsukki selfie from chapter 11! Go give him some sweet lovin' for that, that's seriously awesome. I cried when I saw it. That's every fic writer's dream.

Kei had a lot on his mind on the way to Miyagi and his brother seemed to pick up on that because he didn’t talk as much as he usually did. There had been the usual questions about how he’d been, how Yamaguchi was doing, if he liked school, if he’d made some friends (typical). Kind of like the questions his mother had asked, and would probably ask again.

Akiteru, however, had another question to ask that their mother had not. “So,” he started an hour into the trip, “who’s texting you like that?”

He sounded wholesome and curious, having no hidden intentions, just like he always did. Kei’s fingers stalled over his phone. He was tempted to say that it was just Yamaguchi, but the boy was not a texter, he was a caller. Consequently, Kei wasn’t texting often either. He looked at his options: he could say it was a friend from school, but that would be suspicious since he’d told his mother that he hadn’t made any new friends. Saying it was someone from work wouldn’t be much better. Why would anyone from work text him as much as Kuroo did? Why would anyone from anywhere ever do that to anyone else? It was torture.

“Group chat,” he finally answered, turning his sound off. “The guys in my program.”

Akiteru didn’t seem to smell the bullshit. “And you actually answer that thing?”

Kei shrugged as he replied to a new message from Kuroo who had just asked him what he would choose between only eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the rest of his life or never wearing underwear ever again. “Everyone does,” he told his brother.

Akiteru nodded, but his eyebrows looked funny, bent over his eyes like he was looking at something peculiar. “Mom’s gonna be proud of you for that.”

Kei made a ‘tssk’ noise with the tip of his tongue, irritated at the way this conversation was heading. “I usually just tell them to shut up.”

“You tell them to shut up a lot,”Akiteru remarked with a happy little smile that was both innocent and hiding his eagerness to know more.

“I do,” Kei said on an ending note.

 

-

 

His mother was ecstatic to see him, and she had baked dozens of desserts for his stay. Her dirty blonde hair, closer to Akiteru’s shade than Kei’s, were starting to gray a little. It made her look wiser, calmer. She usually was a bomb of energy, but she had probably tired herself out with all the baking she’d done and all the emotions she had gone through. She was waiting for her sons on the porch, in her adorable pink summer dress that made her look like a teenager from further away. She waved at them when she spotted the car in the street and she walked down the stairs to wait at the bottom. Akiteru parked in front of the house since it didn’t have a driveway. The brothers walked out slowly, tired from 3 hours of sitting down without being able to move their long legs. Their mother walked over to the car, and as soon as Kei went around the vehicle with his bag of clothes hanging on his shoulder, his mother brought him in a nice, warm hug that he gave back. He was too tired to act like he didn’t want to be hugging his mother right now.

“I should take a picture of this,” Akiteru stated as he walked closer to them.

Kei turned his head to glare at his brother, but he didn’t let go of his mom. “Shut up, you always did this when you came back home.”

Their mother’s stern voice raised from the side of Kei’s head that Akiteru couldn’t see. “ _Boys_ ,” is all she needed to say for them to stop annoying one another.

Kei let go of his mother after another couple of seconds, and she looked at him like she was seeing the stars. “I’m so happy you’re here,” she said in her quiet, choked up voice, the same she had spoken with on the phone. The one that broke Kei’s heart.

“I’m happy too,” Kei replied honestly, attempting a smile to reassure his mom. She smiled back at him.

“Alright,” Akiteru chimed in loudly, “how about we get inside now? You must be cold, mom.”

“I’ve just spent the entire day in the kitchen with the oven on, I’m only starting to cool down.”

Akiteru sighed unbelievingly. “You didn’t need to bake him your entire cook book either,” he replied as if he was scowling her.

Their mother shrugged happily. “He said he missed my cooking.”

She looked for validation in her youngest son, but Kei had the same scowling expression as Akiteru did. With how much they already looked like one another if you watched hard enough, it was almost scary. “How much did you make?”

She suddenly understood that they were both sort of mad at her for overworking, but it had made her happy. “Enough for two weeks,” she answered anyway, grinning at both of her sons. They rolled their eyes at the same time.

 

-

 

Kei was lying in bed after eating two pieces of strawberry shortcake, taping on his phone with a subtle smile on his lips. Akiteru had been standing in the middle of the doorframe for 20 seconds already, but he was completely invisible to Kei.

“Hey,” he shouted at some point, making Kei practically throw his phone at the other end of the bed hastily to try and lessen the blow of whatever Akiteru was going to bother him with now.

“What the fuck Aki, knock,” Kei blew up at him, wearing his most annoyed expression, the one that normally made Akiteru feel bad for intruding. His older brother did not move.

“I’ve never had to knock before,” Akiteru answered with a happy smirk, glad he caught up on something. Kei was afraid of what that something might be.

Kei mumbled _I always knocked on_ your _fucking door_ and even though Akiteru did not hear a word, he side-eyes his little brother with a knowing gaze. “Who are you really texting?” He asked with a good kind of curiosity. He wasn’t trying to catch him, he just wanted to know. That did not mean that Kei wanted to tell him.

In front of his little brother’s silence, Akiteru sighed, closed the door and walked inside the room to sit on the end of the bed, very near to where Kei had thrown his phone. “Is it the guy on your profile pic?”

Kei’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, like a deer in the headlights. That was enough of a confirmation for Akiteru. “Alright, I’m not trying to police you right now, okay?”

Kei had no idea what that meant, probably because the feeling of getting caught red handed was still boosting up his stress levels.

“You’re just not being exactly subtle,” Akiteru added almost silently, an embarrassed blush blooming on his light skin.

Kei sat up in his bed, eyeing his brother suspiciously. What did he have to be subtle about?

Akiteru was not looking at Kei, he was staring at the floor with a nervous smile on his face. “I mean, if you’ve got a boyfriend, you should probably tell mom before someone else catches on and tells her.”

The word boyfriend turned off a switch in Kei’s brain, and suddenly, he wasn’t able to form a coherent string of words. “I – what? I mean… no! I just – it’s – that’s not what’s going on! Oh God, okay, listen, no.”

Akiteru looked more amazed than shocked, keeping his mouth stretched in an unbelieving smile. “Wo, okay, I’m listening.”

“Kuroo is just some dumbass and he’s my… friend, and that’s it. He made me change that picture because the previous one was a year old. It’s not my fault if he texts a lot.”

Kei took a deep breath after having explained the situation with exemplary calm after his previous loss for words. Akiteru had an apologetic look on his face and that was never good. “Kei, I’ve been in a relationship for two years now, I know what that glow in your eyes is on that picture.”

This was beyond embarrassing and ridiculous, and Kei’s first instinct would’ve been to hide his face in a pillow if only it didn’t equal to admitting that Akiteru was right. He didn’t say anything, looking at his brother angrily.

“You know I wouldn’t mind, right? But I think that it would be a very good idea to tell mom if, you know, there’s something there,” Akiteru finished with an uncomfortable press of his lips.

Kei’s phone beeped and Kuroo’s name appeared on the screen. Akiteru had a shy smile when he looked at it. “He says his bed still smells like you.”

Of course he would choose this moment to text something like that when he’d been debating if Jurassic World was better than Jurassic Park just moments ago.

Kei shut his eyes and mouthed a curse. “Okay, yeah, that’s pretty blatant, but I swear to God he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Whatever this is,” Akiteru said as he shrugged, “it’s like I said. If it becomes something else, you tell mom.”

Kei nodded, a red hot heat rising to his face. He was lucky that his brother was being so chill about it, but there was a chance that his mother wouldn’t be as thrilled for him as she would’ve been if Kuroo had been a girl. Kei was the avoidant type, Akiteru was right to worry.

“But you should’ve already told me,” Akiteru added at last, a little bit of hurt in his voice.

Kei made a small ‘tssk’ noise before a strange, uninvited smile showed up on his face. “You know I’m not a sharer.”

Akiteru nodded a couple of times. “I’m well aware, but I thought it’d be different concerning happy developments.”

Happy. A couple of days ago, Kei would’ve thought there was nothing happy about this situation he had gotten himself into. He still wasn’t so sure. “I’ll tell you from now on, okay?”

Akiteru looked like he’d been given exactly what he’d asked for on Christmas. “Okay!”

The eldest brother stood up and walked to the door. “And I’ll have to meet the guy, too.”

Kei sighed, absolutely done with all that was happening. “I’ll get a nice date ready for the both of you.”

“You better surprise me with some home cooking,” Akiteru practically yelled as he walked out the door.

“Didn’t I make enough?” their mother shouted back from the living room.

 

-

 

**[22:36] Kei**

I cannot believe you just sent that

**[22:37] Kuroo**

What, are you flustered?

**[22:37] Kei**

My brother saw

**[22:39] Kuroo**

Oh

**[22:39]**

Huh

**[22:40]**

Are you in trouble?

**[22:40] Kei**

I’ve just had the worst discussion of my life

**[22:41] Kuroo**

Oh no you’re in trouble

**[22:41]**

I can call your mom and swear to her that I’ll never see you again

 

Kei looked away from his phone to stare at the ceiling for a while, cracking a smile at the emptiness. He should probably get back to Kuroo before the boy would drive himself over and plead his mother for forgiveness.

**[22:42] Kei**

I’m not in trouble

**[22:43]**

He’s ok with it and my mom doesn’t know

**[22:44] Kuroo**

He’s ok with what exactly

**[22:44] Kei**

With whatever he’s assumed

**[22:45] Kuroo**

Can I call you?

**[22:45] Kei**

When did you ever need to ask?

 

5 seconds later, Kei’s phone was ringing in his hand. He answered the call quickly so it wouldn’t bother anyone in the house. “Hey,” Kei said quietly with his tired voice.

“ _Tsuks_ ,” Kuroo replied with all the tenderness in the world. There was no off switch to this boy, was there?

“You do realise that I went home to see my family and the only thing I’ve done so far is eat cake and talk to you,” Kei said in a joking voice, or as jokingly as he could.

Kuroo laughed. “ _That’s some damn good use of your time_.”

“It is,” Kei answered without holding back the little laugh in his voice as well.

Kuroo had another chuckle. “ _You sound like you’re less tense already_.”

Kei took a moment to think about it. As he exhaled slowly, he couldn’t help the smile on his lips. “Yeah, well I had a good night sleep.”

“ _Don’t say shit like that to me_ ,” Kuroo whined, sounding like he meant the exact opposite.

Kei bit down on his lower lip. “You’re so… dumb.”

“ _Wow, you’ve lost your punch. Where’s my Asshole McDick?_ ”

“Broccoli face,” Kei replied with a laugh stuck in his throat. “I’m here, I’m just tired.”

Kuroo sounded like he choked on his spit when he heard that. “ _And we know how you get when you’re tired._ ”

“Exactly,” Kei replied with a yawn. “I should go to bed soon. Wanna talk tomorrow?”

A little pleased noise came from Kuroo. “ _I would die to_.”

“Okay, then I’ll hang up but we can text until I fall asleep. Oh, and, no more compromising texts.”

“ _You better sleep in and eat plenty more cake tomorrow_ ,” Kuroo warned him as if he hadn’t caught a word of what the blond said.

Kei sighed and rolled his eyes. “Swear you won’t text me weird stuff again.”

“ _Are dinosaur dilemmas okay?_ ”

Kei had a short, snorty laugh. “They’re always okay.”

They kept quiet for a couple of seconds before Kuroo spoke back. “ _You know, it might be weird, but I wish we hadn’t cuddled yesterday cuz now I kinda miss it and it’s driving me crazy._ ”

“Honestly I’m too comfortable to miss you right now.” Kei knew what he had just done.

“ _I am critically hit_ ,” Kuroo claimed in a deadpan voice. “ _I feel underappreciated._ ”

Kei mumbled something as he lied down more comfortably into bed and he himself wasn’t even sure of what he had tried to say. “Shouldn’t you feel validated, being my first cuddle buddy?”

“ _It is a curse_ ,” Kuroo laughed this time, although he had tried to keep it together. “ _I feel like I’m never going to be the same man._ ”

The sheets on Kei’s skin had never been more comfortable in his life. Kuroo’s voice in his ear was alarmingly reassuring. “M’falling asleep,” he warned when he blinked one last time and his eyelids refused to flip back up.

“ _Okay, sleep well_ ,” Kuroo replied with a voice softer than any voice Kei had ever heard in his life, and he fell asleep the moment the call ended.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM YELLING ALSO DON'T WORRY
> 
> Ok so next chapter will be called *drumrolls* ....... Hinata Shouyou's Solutions! 
> 
> I need to pee real bad
> 
> SOMEONE MADE ART OF THIS FIC AND I'M THERE IN THE NOTES SAYING I NEED TO PEE
> 
> See you soon guys tumblr is [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/) i'm constantly whining
> 
> Tell me what you thought of the chapter :)


	15. Hinata Shouyou's Solutions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know sometimes I wonder why I deserve all of y’all??? You’re all so sweet and I’m standing there like a potato. I’m so grateful for the readers, you make my heart swell and my risk of having a heart attack go up.

“ _What are you doing right now?_ ” Kuroo’s question sounded innocent enough, so Kei figured he was trying to have a real conversation, which had not been the standard of their late night talks so far. He’d been in Miyagi for 10 days, and they’d called each other every night, but the content of their conversations had never been of the serious type. That was sometimes hard to achieve with Kuroo.

“Lying down in bed,” Kei said in an expectant voice, knowing there was something bigger behind that simple question.

“ _That’s a good thing to be doing while I tell you what I’m going to tell you_ ,” Kuroo replied vaguely, suddenly sounding pretty nervous.

Kei snorted a laugh. “What are you being so serious about?”

“ _I’m being serious about serious stuff_ ,” Kuroo answered quickly to shut Kei up. “ _Now if you would be so kind as to hear me out._ ”

Kei couldn’t stop chuckling at Kuroo trying to be serious, even though he kind of liked it. “Alright, alright, tell me.”

A pause. A strange noise of pain and suffering from Kuroo. “ _It’s tough to say_.”

Kei was almost wheezing, which was very strange. Sure, he liked mocking people, but this was stepping it up a notch. He took a deep breath to calm down before he encouraged Kuroo to try again.

“ _Okay, so, huh, you know how I’m not straight and all that_ ,” Kuroo started off like he was telling a dumb story from work, “ _and also how I wasn’t kidding when I said you were hot_.”

“How could I forget,” Kei replied, deadpan.

“ _Well_ ,” Kuroo just said, as if he forgot he should’ve went on after that.

“Yes?” Kei asked back, curious.

Kuroo took a deep breath before he said whatever would come out. “ _I really liked being your first anything, you know? I’m happy it’s me and not some… asshole_.”

“Wow,” Kei laughed, but his throat was full of emotion. “I might be a total asshole myself, you still don’t know that.”

Kuroo laughed, but it was tense. “ _I highly doubt it_.”

Some shivers went down Kei’s back. He’d learned to associate shivers with anything Kuroo related. They were pleasant, although unsettling sometimes. They shook him up quite a lot, lately. “You shouldn’t have this much faith in people, it’s dangerous,” Kei said after the cold feeling died down, trying to humour Kuroo for as long as possible.

“ _I’m a risk taker_ ,” Kuroo answered simply, and you could hear the nonchalant shrug in his voice.

Kei fought against a spontaneous smile trying to lay down on his face after he pictured the way Kuroo brushed his statement off. “Is that all you wanted to tell me?”

Kuroo groaned in what sounded like pain. “ _Has your mother ever taught you patience?_ ”

“She forgot,” Tsukki replied with an audible smile.

Kuroo scoffed quietly. “ _I’m just… this really isn’t easy to say_.”

Kei waited for a couple of seconds and when he realised Kuroo wouldn’t keep going on his own, he declared: “I have all night.”

Kuroo barked a laugh that was rather offensive. “ _You’d never be able to stay up all night_.”

“You can’t judge with just two… three nights,” Kei thought out loud before he chose to let it go. “If you promise you’re trying to tell me something serious, I’ll stay awake for as long as you need me to.”

“ _Who’s all serious now?_ ” Kuroo replied, but Kei could feel that he was happy to hear it. “ _What I get from this is you’re just a curious brat, huh?_ ”

“That’s what they’re calling me back home,” Kei said humourlessly, but that was exactly how Kuroo liked his jokes: flat, delivered like bad news.

Kuroo stayed silent a good while too long and when he spoke again, you could just hear that he’d spent those last moments smiling dumbly. “ _You’re great, Tsukishima._ ”

That took Kei by surprise. He stared down at his legs as he thought of what he could say next. “Am I now?”

Yeah, that was fine. Self-doubt was always a winner in the game. “ _Yeah, you… you’re the first person I’ve met in years who stands their ground like you do and doesn’t act like anything other than what they are – look I don’t know if I’m explaining this correctly…_ ” Kuroo hesitated, obviously losing all the confidence he’d accumulated.

“Very correct,” Kei answered, letting the smile tugging at his lips win. “Thank you. You’re great too, for all it’s worth.”

“ _Really?_ ” Kuroo asked in about the same voice Kei had just seconds ago, and that was just way too endearing.

Kei wanted to tell Kuroo he was a fucking sap, the worst person he’d ever met, the only reason he sort of missed Tokyo right now, a physically perfect mind reader, etc. Instead, he joked: “You’re the greatest.”

There was a shy laugh on the other end. “ _Now you’re just messing with me._ ”

“You can’t tell me what I’m telling you,” Kei replied smugly. “I mean it, I think you’re…”

He made a pause while also making sure that Kuroo was waiting and not rushing him. He trusted him not to do that anyway. “…really amazing.”

Kuroo took a sharp breath and stopped making any other type of noise that would indicate he was still alive. Kei was holding his breath too, even though Kuroo had been the first to say it and nothing bad could come out of him saying it back. “ _Kei,_ ” Kuroo laughed nervously, clearly appalled by what he’d just heard.

“You’re a mess, Testsurou,” Kei said in a tone that sounded dangerously adoring.

Kuroo replied in a long, pleased sigh. “ _Tsukki_ ,” he started and his voice choked up a little, “ _I like you._ ”

“Oh,” Kei replied instantly as his brain went for a good freeze once again, just after it understood that _this_ was what Kuroo had been trying to say from the beginning.

A very quiet and very unsure “You do?” followed but Kei wasn’t even sure when he’d said it.

“ _Yeah, sorry, I just had to tell you. It’s been eating at me, kinda felt like I was lying to you, you know?_ ”

Kei felt the best and the worse he’d ever felt in his life and he had no idea if he’d ever find a proper way to respond to something like that. He was bad at this, so, so bad at this. “N-no, I don’t… I don’t _know_ , but…”

“ _Please don’t feel forced to say it back_ ,” Kuroo rushed in authoritatively. “ _I just told you on the fucking phone, please don’t be as lame as me. You don’t owe me anything_.”

Kei’s lungs finally felt like they worked correctly again. He still had trouble believing that this conversation was happening. “You really are the greatest,” Kei said while he was still stunned, unsure of whatever was coming out of his mouth.

“ _Hehe_ ,” Kuroo laughed like a dumbass, “ _thanks Tsukki_.”

Tsukishima was still taking it all in when he realised that Kuroo had a missing piece of the puzzle. Uncomfortably, he tried to rectify the situation. “Hum, thanks to you too.”

“ _What for?_ ” Kuroo asked happily.

To hell with it. “For making me realise I’m not just a straight guy with gay thoughts.”

A stunned silence, followed by a muted laugh answered him for the first 5 seconds. “ _Is that your way of telling me something?_ ” Kuroo added as he cracked up.

“Shut up,” Kei tried to threaten, his voice harsh and absolutely embarrassed.

Kuroo took a while to stop laughing, which was a little insulting. “ _I mean, my accidental coming out was lame, but at least it was accidental._ ”

“That wasn’t meant to be funny,” Kei warned and Kuroo stopped giggling almost instantly. “I mean, shouldn’t you be rejoiced right now?”

There was a little silence, then a good inhale of air. “ _Oh, believe me, I am._ ”

 

-

 

Hinata was at the school gym with Yamaguchi, taking advantage of the fact that the kids were out of town for their training camp. All they could do was receive each other’s serves or set to each other, but they had found a way to do just that for almost an hour now, according to how long it had been since Hinata had replied to him last. Tsukishima slid the door to the gymnasium open without announcing he was there, so the two boys jumped and turned to glare at him until they realised it was just him.

“Hi Tsukki!” Yamaguchi greeted him before hitting a serve.

Hinata received it and ran after his own receive to smash it. “Tsukishima!”

Kei rolled his eyes and walked to the benches. He was pretty glad of Kageyama’s absence, considering what Kuroo had asked him to do. He had said he wouldn’t do it, but what choice was there, really? He wasn’t going to let Kenma do through some dumb heartbreak just because Hinata was stupid.

“Where’s the king?” Kei asked with a subtle grin.

Hinata frowned disapprovingly at him. “He went to see family in Osaka.”

Yamaguchi picked up the ball from the floor and prepared for another serve. “You didn’t lose it,” Tsukishima commented, regarding Yamaguchi’s technique.

“Still got it,” the boy replied with a smile, his voice a little embarrassed. “I guess it’s like learning to ride a bike.”

“Don’t simplify your efforts like that,” Tsukishima scowled as he looked at Yamaguchi’s serve, which was as flawless as the last time he’d seen it.

“Sorry Tsukki!”

Kei had a smile at the familiar phrase. “Anyway, Hinata, could you stay behind once you guys are done?”

“Huh?” Hinata hummed before diving for a half-assed receive. “What for?”

“You know what for.”

“Oh.” Hinata turned to Kei and the volley ball fell hard, just an inch away from him. “I, huh, still couldn’t get a hold of him.”

“He better not speak to you before you understand why you need to apologize,” Tsukishima replied in a harsh voice, like a disappointed mother.

Yamaguchi was staring at the both of them alternatively, a confused dent between his eyebrows. “I’ll explain once I’ve talked to him,” Kei offered.

Yamaguchi nodded once, sharply, but he still had a worried look on his face. “Well then, I’ll leave you two to it.”

Hinata glared at him like he’d just been betrayed and was now facing death row.

“Don’t hurt him,” Yamaguchi warned his best friend as he walked out of the gymnasium with the volley ball under his arm.

Kei stared directly at Hinata the second the door slid closed. “Sit,” he ordered. Hinata quickly obliged.

A twinge of regret went through Kei when he realised he’d just used the fear that Hinata still had in him just to get him to sit down. He really had not needed to do that. “Sorry, I’m not here to yell at you, I’m here to talk actually.”

“Talk?” Hinata asked curiously like he’d never heard that word before.

“Yes,” Tsukishima replied like he was sorry about it. Mostly, he just really did not want to have to do this. Kenma didn’t even know he was doing this. He felt horrible, but it needed to be done. “You know how I’ve told you that you can’t treat Kenma like all your other friends?”

“Yeah,” Hinata started like he was a little angry, but he just looked like an angry child asking for fast food, “and you didn’t want to tell me why.”

Kei sighed as he rubbed his hands in his face, his fingers pushing his glasses up awkwardly. “Yeah, and I’m still not supposed to, but I’m going to.”

Hinata wiggled in his seat, suddenly very interested in the conversation. “I’m listening very carefully.”

Kei had to laugh behind his hand at that one. Hinata had probably been taught by a teacher or even Kageyama to say stuff like that to prove he was concentrating. “I need to explain something first.”

Hinata nodded furiously way too many times to count. Kei fixed his glasses as he wondered why he deserved this in his life right now. “So, I’m gonna start with why you shouldn’t have done that.”

“Okay,” Hinata replied and it seemed like he hadn’t stopped nodding, because he was still going.

“Christ, calm down,” Kei said as he grabbed the top of Hinata’s hair and made him stop moving. He only let go of it when Hinata resumed his nervous laughter. “Urgh, okay, so you shouldn’t have done this because some people are not comfortable around other people and it takes them a great deal of efforts to even be around someone else. By leaving them on their own like that, you can make them feel like you don’t want to see them, or like they were just a filler while you were waiting for someone else to call you. You see how this can be interpreted?”

Hinata’s eyes were wide and upset. “Yes, I see. Is that how Kenma felt? Oh God, I did this to him, didn’t I? I made him feel like he was second best.”

The hurt expression on Hinata’s face kind of hurt Kei as well. “Yeah, well, yeah, I won’t lie to you, that’s what you did.”

“I knew even when I was leaving that I shouldn’t have been, but Kageyama… he’s my best friend, you know? I feel so bad now, you have no idea.”

Kei was already feeling sorry for how affected Kenma was, but now that he saw what it did to Hinata as well, he realised that no side was better off. “I get it, don’t worry. Kenma’s a… he’s a special guy, you know?”

Hinata looked up, curious. “What do you mean?”

“Well, he’s not the type to initiate a conversation, or to talk at all. You’ve probably noticed that.”

There was a little bit of confusion in Hinata’s eyes. “He always speaks when he’s with me.”

Kei rolled his eyes. Kenma was so screwed. “Actually, I’m not surprised to hear that. Do you have any idea why he’s so quiet around me and so vocal around you?”

Hinata shrugged. “If you ask me just like that I’d say it’s because he doesn’t like you, but I might be wrong.”

“Anyway,” Tsukishima intervened abruptly, “I think somewhere inside of your head, you know why.”

A wave of doubt washed over Hinata’s face for a millisecond and now Kei was sure he knew. “I hoped I could be a good friend for him, I wanted to play games with him and talk to him. All that mattered was that he was comfortable.”

“See how that went...”

Hinata groaned like a child. “I am aware, thank you!” His shoulders started shaking, almost like he was crying or enraged. “I couldn’t even do that. Now he hates me and I…”

Kei stood up a little straighter, feeling like he suddenly had a situation here. “Alright, don’t freak out, it’s fine. You’ll be able to fix it.”

“Tell me why it has to be different with Kenma specifically,” the ginger asked very seriously, with that dark aura that could intimidate anyone.

Kei bit his tongue. He was going to say it. “Because Kenma likes you as not just a friend.”

Dread fell over Hinata’s features and the boy even stood up to pace in front of the benches. He was looking for a way to deal with this. “Did he tell you that?”

“He told Kuroo,” Kei explained with a guilty look.

“Who then told you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Hinata asked, as if Kei was the one being cooked now.

The blond scoffed like he had no reason to answer that. Hinata tilted his head on the side and squinted his eyes.

Kei wanted to yell, but instead he breathed slowly and took his sweet time to answer. “Kuroo is Kenma’s best friend and Kuroo trusted me to explain the situation to you so you’d fix things with Kenma. He’s been angry-sad for a couple of weeks.”

“Angry-sad?” Hinata replied like he was sad himself, but that he also thought it was awesome.

Kei had a sympathetic click of his tongue. “Yeah, when he’s sad he gets aggressive so he does strange things like work out and play violent games to unwind.”

“That’s so cool,” Hinata exclaimed as he looked up in the air with a sparkle in his eye.

Kei shrugged and nodded, because he agreed. He’d rather get angry-sad than depressed-sad, where he sat down at the bottom of the shower to cry, which was honestly horrible and the most cliché place to cry.

Hinata was not done marvelling over that facet of Kenma. “He’s so cool and I hurt him, no wonder he won’t answer me anymore. Do you think he still likes me? I don’t want him to stop.”

Kei frowned. “You don’t?”

“Why would I want that?” he asked like he was appalled from that possibility. “He’s so cool and so nice, I’m glad that he thinks anything of me.”

Kei shook his head and laughed a little. “I guess that’s a way to see things.”

Hinata nodded again, a smile pulling up both sides of his lips. “I’ll try to reach him tonight, but if it doesn’t work, could you ask Kuroo to tell Kenma to answer me?”

“That’s gonna be a mess,” Kei sighed as a hand returned to his face, “but alright, okay.”

“Cool!” Hinata exclaimed as he stood from the bench. “Thanks, Tsukishima!”

Kei sent him off with a nod of his head and a wave, but he remembered something he’d forgotten to say while Hinata was barely out of the gymnasium. He stood up and yelled: “Hey, Hinata!”

The boy curiously walked back inside and stared at Tsukishima. “Yeah?”

“Don’t actually tell him you know he likes you, and give him time to adapt, okay?”

Hinata seemed surprised, but he was still smiling nicely. “Yeah, okay.”

He then left for good and Kei felt like he’d done something right even though he’d just given an information that did not belong to him. Even though he told himself that this would’ve gotten nowhere without it, it still felt like a sort of betrayal and that was very unpleasant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know there aren't much actual solutions in this chapter but they will come one day. As I've said before, Hinata is not the type of guy to do things halfway.
> 
> Sorry for so much dialogue? Next chapter is like 3/4 description I hope it makes up.
> 
> Also ahahah was that a confession oops
> 
> I always love getting comments! Honestly they fuel my desire to write, because I feel like you guys are more invested in the story. I really love answering you all!!!
> 
> Next chapter is called "Alarm Clock" (already half written) and we're going to be back in Tokyo for this one ;) 
> 
> Tumblr is [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/), I am an absolute trash lord follow me


	16. Alarm Clock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m such a mess you guys holy shit this chapter is heavy. It’s so loaded. Here we fucking goooooo.

Kei’s mother had been hugging him as tight as she could for the last minute, swinging a little from left to right and breathing in his neck like she was going to cry.

“Mom,” Kei said in a voice that came halfway between impatient and soothing. “Another couple months and I’ll be back.”

His mother attempted a laid back laugh, but she barely could. “You’re right.”

Kei took a step back and Akiteru seized his shoulders and squeezed a little. “Alright, you’ll be late if we don’t go now.”

Kei looked at his mother apologetically before he left to go sit in the car. Akiteru hugged his mother too then, a lot more briefly, and told her he’d be back for dinner. When he sat behind the wheel in the seat next to Kei, the youngest had no idea what to expect. Would there be more questions? More assumptions? Or silence, like on the ride over there? Moderate silence, anyway.

 Akiteru went down the silence road for the first 15 minutes, until he decided to engage conversation. “I bet you’re not so thrilled to be going back,” he said like he was asking two questions at once, but that he wasn’t even trying to be subtle about it.

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you,” Kei replied as he refused to look at his brother.

Akiteru laughed a little and that was the end of the short conversation until they started playing a guessing game one hour into the trip.

 

-

 

Kuroo had his chin in his hands, a dumb smile on his lips and a happy gleam in his eyes. Tsukki was sitting at his desk with his legs crossed. “We won against our rival school and it was like a fucking movie, we got the last set with 32 points,” Kuroo related, looking straight into Kei’s eyes. “If Bokuto hadn’t been all messed up by the fact that half the rival team was made of his old high school team, we would’ve gotten both sets with a good lead.”

Kuroo sighed, but he kept smiling. Subtly, he mumbled: “Can’t mess with Akaashi,” before he made a face and rolled his eyes.

Kei smiled at Kuroo’s apparent annoyance regarding that situation. “The practices are going to start regularly again, right?”

Kuroo nodded softly. “Yeah, three times a week, plus Saturday mornings every fortnight.”

Kei made an acknowledging noise. “So I guess I’m gonna see you here then, after your practices like before.”

“What?” Kuroo asked strangely, kind of like he’d been punched in the throat. “We’ll see each other more often than that. Won’t we?”

Kei stood up from his chair and walked up to him. “Sure,” he said nonchalantly. Kuroo’s shoulders dropped significantly.

“Good. Nice.”

Kuroo’s little smile made Tsukki smile and look away from his face. “I’ll never make you wait 2 weeks again,” he said earnestly.

Something obviously short-circuited in Kuroo’s brain, but a smile flashed on his face. “Tonight, I have some homework to finish, but come over.”

Kei blinked at him a couple of times, but he hadn’t expected any less. “I close in 30 minutes, we could leave together.”

Kuroo nodded as his smile got wider and his eyes lighted up.

 

-

 

Something Kei had not thought about was the fact that he’d spent all day in a car and all evening at work, so he cruelly needed a shower. He mentioned that as Kuroo and he were walking to the former’s house. The older boy simply brushed it off, telling him that he could damn well shower at his place if he didn’t want to spend the night in more than a normal day’s worth of sweat. That was pretty nice of him.

Until came the moment to actually do it. Getting undressed anywhere other than your house or somewhere you felt at home was always a little bit… _strange_. Just like the uneasy feeling you sometimes feel when you take your clothes off to try new ones in the dressing room at the store, or your state of undress in the shower after volleyball practice. Kei had never gotten used to any of that.

Getting naked in Kuroo’s house was very bizarre. It felt like trespassing a law, even though he’d asked for permission. Kuroo’s mother had even said that he could use whatever product he wanted (after meeting him for the first time, by the way). She had the warm gaze of a loving mother, the grace of an angel, a caramel tan and very slick dark brown hair. Kei saw so much of Kuroo’s mother into the boy himself, it almost took him aback.

Since Kei had no clothes to change into, he got a short and a shirt from Kuroo, which he left neatly folded on the closed toilet seat. Wearing that was also going to be weird.

He tried to shower as slowly as possible without also looking like he was trying to rob them of all their hot water. He guessed a gap from 10 to 12 minutes would be fine, so he tried to respect that. As he stayed unmoving under the stream of water, he asked himself, once again, what the fuck he was doing.

Once he got out of the shower, he couldn’t waste any more time. Without the sound of water excusing all the time he took that he did not need, he had no cover. He put Kuroo’s clothes on and took a deep breath.

In an act of spite probably, Tsukishima's blood all rushed to his face, and he hated that obvious physical reaction so much. What was so embarrassing after all? He had to take a shower. He had taken one. Now he had to get out of the bathroom. No big deal.

He slapped himself in the face, softly enough to shake off the embarrassment and he walked out of the bathroom and into the doorway of Kuroo's room. The latter looked up from a book when he heard the boy come in and his eyes trailed on Tsukki's neck and his shirt and his legs. His mouth was slightly open, in awe almost.

"What," Tsukishima asked in an angry way before the blush would take over and he'd start acting all cutesy for the hell of it. For Kuroo.

Kuroo had a small smile, but it was an honest, happy smile. "Fits you," he said tenderly.

Tsukki scoffed. "It's way too big for me. I'm sure you take bigger sizes just so people think you're more muscular than you truly are."

Kuroo's smile turned into a playful one. "Normally you get smaller shirts for this, and that's not why it fits you. C'mere."

Kei nodded furiously. "Nope."

"What's that?" Kuroo still thought it was funny. Tsukki was fighting a nervous laugh.

"I'm not coming into bed with you if you keep looking at me like that."

"Oh," Kuroo started as he squinted his eyes. "Well, I wouldn't... do anything."

Tsukishima laughed now, but it was a mean laugh. "What did you want to do, cuddle?"

"Yeah... maybe?"

The blond looked down. _Don't be shy, don't be shy_. "Not right now."

Kuroo tilted his head on the side. "You know I can sleep in my mom's bed and let you take mine if you're uncomfortable."

Tsukki raised his head in surprise, staring at Kuroo with a thousand questions in his eyes. "No, no it's... fine, I guess, if you don't... touch me."

Kuroo stared back at Tsukki with a serious gaze, one that froze the blond into place. "I won't. Promise."

Tsukishima blinked a couple of times before he closed his eyes and stayed like this for about ten seconds. He knew his face was as red as it could get, but he tried not to care about it.

He took a first step toward the bed after a long sigh, and Kuroo put his book away on the bedside table. Kei sat on the bed, on the opposite side, and Kuroo gazed at him with a rare innocence. He was seeing something else than a cute boy wearing one of his shirts, he was seeing a scared boy who felt like he had everything to lose. Ironically, he really wanted to hug the shit out of him right now.

Instead, he waited. Tsukishima took a deep breath between every move he made, slowly getting into bed with the most wary look in his eyes. Kuroo just gazed at him patiently.

When Tsukki got his legs under the covers, Kuroo lied down and waited for the blond to do the same. When Kei laid his head on the pillow, his eyes met Kuroo's and they looked at each other for a while, not saying a word. Tsukishima was easing into it, slowly but surely.

“Didn’t you have homework to do?” the blond asked warily.

Kuroo smirked. “I tried to get it done as fast as possible.”

Kei smiled back, shy and barely there, but he did anyway. They looked at each other in silence for a while, blinking slowly, getting comfortable.

When Kuroo didn't expect any movement from him anymore, Kei brought a hand to Kuroo's hair and pulled his bangs up. The younger boy had a silly smile in reaction to his actions, and he left his hand there, gently brushing Kuroo's hair with his long fingers. There was something so pure, so calm about it that he just closed his eyes and let Tsukki do whatever he wanted.

Kuroo felt Tsukishima get closer. His hand had stayed buried in the mess that was Kuroo’s hair and everything was fine. It was all so good.

Tsukki whispered good night and all the lights were still on but neither of them cared. "Sorry for being so cold," Kei added in such a small voice that it was barely audible.

"You're room temperature," Kuroo answered, and the hand in his hair started moving again, patting his head.

Tsukishima got even closer to him. "Room temperature," he chorused with a snort, "I like that."

He left his arm resting on the side of Kuroo's face, his elbow in the hollow of the older boy's neck. They didn't move for long minutes, and they ended up falling asleep like that with all the lights on and Tsukki's hand holding up Kuroo's hair.

Kuroo’s mother woke them up around 11:30 to tell them that the last bus of the night was in 30 minutes, so Kei packed up his clothes and got ready to leave. Kuroo asked him if they’d be able to see each other again the next day and Tsukishima agreed. He walked out of the house with a strange feeling in his guts, but it was the good kind.

 

-

 

They had been doing this all week, meeting every night for homework, studying and limited cuddling when they went to Kei’s place instead of Kuroo’s house. Kei wasn’t such a fan of people who opened doors without knocking so much.

He’d set an alarm to ring 5 minutes before the last bus of the night, so at least Kuroo’s mom didn’t have to tell them about it anymore in case they fell asleep or lost track of time. Kuroo also started thinking of getting a door handle with a lock.

Kei couldn’t help but feel like that was a little bit too much.

Tonight was Friday and Kei had just started closing the store when he got a text from Kuroo asking him to come to his place afterwards. He’d been expecting and kind of looking forward to that, so he agreed right away.

Kuroo’s mom wasn’t home when he got there. Her car wasn’t in the alley. When Kuroo invited him inside the house, they both moved to his bedroom right away. Kuroo’s bed was filled with books and sheets of paper and Kei winced when he walked in the room.

“Big exam Monday,” Kuroo explained

Kei sighed as he cleared himself a place to sit on. “Better get started then.”

“I’ll show you,” Kuroo said before he took a notebook and opened it to a blank page. He wrote a formula as a guide and then took a problem from one of his books, answering it as he showed Tsukki all the steps. The blond started the get the hang of it around the third problem, and by the fifth, he was able to finish one on his own. After more than an hour of that, Kuroo pushed all the stuff off of his bed and onto the floor like he couldn’t care less. Kei stared at him with a stunned smile and Kuroo bumped his forehead into Kei’s shoulder. After a couple minutes of petting Kuroo’s head like he was a child, Kei leaned back and laid down on the bed. Kuroo followed after him, holding himself above him with both arms on either side of Kei’s body.

And all of a sudden, time stopped, their breathing stalled, and they stared at each other like there was nothing else in the world they'd rather be looking at. Kuroo lifted an arm and ran a hand through Tsukki's hair, smiling down at the blond in this dopey way that was just unacceptable from this close. Kuroo's hand dipped to Kei's jaw, his ear, the back of his head, and it was wonderfully soothing.

They were calm for a while, smiling softly at each other and slowly drifting from wide awake to positively sleepy, when Kuroo moved his elbow to inch forward just a little and stare into Tsukki's eyes from directly above him.

There was a softness in his smile and in his eyes that Tsukishima had never had the chance to see before. Kuroo's half lidded eyes made him feel like he was in a deep tub of warm water.

Kuroo's face moved closer to Kei's and the blond only followed the other's gaze with his. "I'm gonna kiss you now."

It had been said like a statement, but it was a question in hiding. At that point, the looks they had shared in the last minute or two had been infinitely more intimate than a kiss would ever be. "Alright," Kei replied as he shut his eyes and waited for the soft pressure on his lips.

Kuroo had another quick smile and a warm exhale before he reached the rest of the way down and gently kissed Kei's slightly parted lips. Kei had expected more warmth and less tenderness, but it wasn't a bad feeling at all. Kuroo's lips were full and soft on Kei's own, making his cheeks redden and his breath shorten. The blond kept his eyes closed, feeling so much from just that light press of plush skin, moving together in this dopey, perfectly experimental way. Their lips met again and again, sometimes more parted than others, but always rather chaste and tired. Kei reached out a hand to grab Kuroo's jaw tentatively, and Kuroo pressed harder into the next kiss, making the blond moan in surprise. After this, Kei waited for his mouth to be free again so he could catch Kuroo's lips himself. He raised his head up a little, tilting it on the side to have a better angle and he opened his mouth against Kuroo's. The boy took the bait and slipped his tongue in Kei's mouth, but not in a sloppy way. It was still on and off, starting and stopping. Brief kisses, some deeper than the others, some longer, and some that made them both lose their minds.

Tsukishima felt like he was going to melt in the bedsheets, moving his lips against Kuroo's in an addicting way. It was so calm and natural that he didn't even feel the adrenaline rise up in his veins until he felt all tingly in his limbs, with a strange feeling like his heart was going to burst. He couldn't hold back when he reached behind Kuroo's neck with both of his arms and intertwined them, pulling him closer and more open and more there. Kuroo kissed like he spoke, with too much spunk, but also with an overabundance of sweetness oozing from every smack of his lips and every distracted caress. It was like getting drunk on Bailey’s coffee. Tsukki realised how lucky he was at this moment, that this was his first kiss.

It had probably been roughly 2, 3 minutes, but he had no trouble believing that they could go like this for hours without a problem. It was easy and evident, but the younger still knew why this was happening now and not before or after. They had been waiting for this patiently, bickering nicely with each other until something dumb like time would weld them together. Kei had never felt closer to - and his alarm for the last bus of the night started blaring in their ears, trying with all it had to get their attentions. Kuroo obviously didn't give a fuck, smiling in the middle of a pretty heated kiss and pulling Kei with him as he rolled on his side. They had to break apart shortly after, when the alarm became slightly annoying.

They looked at each other again, and they couldn't help a little nervous laugh. "Mood killer," Kuroo whispered, huddling Tsukki's face between his hands.

Kei grabbed his phone from his jeans pocket and turned the alarm off. He then dropped it on the bed and wrapped his arms back around Kuroo's neck. "Kiss me again," he requested, adorably sleepy, brushing a thumb on the back of Kuroo's neck like he was trying to lure him closer.

"You're not leaving for your bus?" Kuroo asked quietly, his voice full of hope.

Kei had a sheepish grin. "Not after that, I'm not."

Kuroo smiled back and pressed his lips to Kei's again, with care, like he was kissing something fragile. Tsukishima felt his entire body buzz with electricity at the tender touches.

Around five minutes of on and off slow kisses later, Kei heard the bus pass in the street, and it made him smile against Kuroo's lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *guilty laugh*
> 
> Ah ah,,, :)
> 
> Kuroo's mom is nice isn't she?
> 
> Next chapter is called "Why?"  
> And I am very sorry
> 
> Tumblr is [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/) ;)


	17. Why?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I’ve taken a decision regarding this fic and I’m letting you know now before it becomes an issue, if it would ever have had. The tags on this work say that it is rated mature for now, but that it could become explicit. Consider this very likely as of right now. In this specific chapter, there is nothing nsfw, so don’t fret. Although from now on, you must assume that there might be some nsfw in any given chapter. I will not warn for nsfw at every chapter, except on my tumblr. If nsfw or sexual themes trigger or upset you, I will proceed as I did when we used to call sex lemons and sexual themes limes: I will put a warning directly in the text, in the form of this little thing here → ~. If you see this before a paragraph you must assume that it will contain nsfw themes, until you see the next little wiggle thing, which means it ends there. I will do this to avoid spoiling the nsfw in my notes! I’m smart like that. 
> 
> Once again, sorry.

Kei woke up to an irritating song, his face stuck in the crook of Kuroo’s neck, both of his arms circling the boy’s waist. The room was stuffy and honestly, it was very uncomfortable to be so close, but he still didn’t want to move. Kuroo woke up in a long, whiney groan, reaching for his phone tentatively in the dark. Slamming his hand on the nightstand, he finally found the device and turned the song off. It was 6 am, he had to get up and get ready for practice.

“What the fuck was that song,” Kei mumbled angrily, keeping his face pressed to Kuroo’s skin stubbornly.

Kuroo heaved a deep sigh of frustration. “Annoying songs are efficient when you need to wake up at ungodly hours.”

The logic behind that was pretty solid. “You literally have all day for practice and they make you get up at 6,” Kei slurred, sounding half-awake and scandalised.

“Some of the guys work during the day,” Kuroo explained patiently and Kei didn’t answer, he just rubbed his face on the pillow next to Kuroo’s head.

Kuroo kissed Tsukishima’s temple softly before he pressed his nose against it. “Did I ever tell you how good you smell?”

“Did I ever tell you how much I like sleeping?” Kei answered cynically, but he was blushing in the pillow.

Kuroo snorted as he snuggled up closer to Kei. “You’re hilarious, can I kiss you?”

The other boy turned his head and rolled his eyes. “I’m all yours,” he said, his voice sounding both sarcastic and pleased.

Kuroo smirked before his hand rose up from Kei’s back to his neck and he kissed him briefly, with closed lips stretched in a smile. Morning was not a good time to open your mouth in anyone’s face, so he was being careful.

When he pulled away, Tsukki’s eyes were still closed and the top of his cheeks were slightly red. “I have to head for a shower, but you can keep sleeping,” Kuroo said once he was far enough again.

“You don’t need to say it twice,” Kei mumbled as he rolled around and buried his head in the pillows and the blankets. Kuroo sighed contentedly as he got out of the bed before he went to get clean clothes and headed for the bathroom. When he got out, Kei was sleeping soundly, looking as innocent as a child with his soft face and his pink flush. He had to wake him up, he couldn’t leave the house and let Tsukki there alone with his mom. She didn’t even know he was there.

Unwillingly, Kuroo bent down to Kei’s eye level and shook his shoulder lightly. The blond stirred a little, but he finally opened his eyes, looking grumpy and confused. “I’m going now, and I don’t want to kick you out, but my mom likes talking a lot in the morning and you don’t look like the type who’s going to humour her.”

Kei wrinkled his nose at the thought of speaking to anyone this early. He reached for his glasses and had trouble putting them on. It’s like he was still 50% sleeping, like everything was slipping away from his grip. “I’ll go sleep in my bed,” he said finally when Kuroo cocked his head on the side, waiting for a response.

“Don’t fall asleep in the bus or you’ll miss your stop,” Kuroo joked before he pulled out his tongue playfully.

Kei smiled at him, but it was tired and feeble. “I won’t.”

Kuroo stood up and brushed the wrinkles out of his clothes. “Alright, so I’m trusting you to head out before 7, that’s when my mom wakes up. I’ll call you tonight, okay?”

“Okay,” Kei answered, reaching out for one of Kuroo’s hand that was now just next to the mattress. Kuroo held it and squeezed it tightly for a second, smiling brightly, before he let go and walked out of the room. Kei rolled around for 5 minutes in Kuroo’s bed before he sighed deeply and got up, dressed back into yesterday’s clothes, went to fix his hair just a little and left for the bus. It kind of felt like a walk of shame, and that was strangely fun. It was new, it made him feel like he was someone else. It shouldn’t have felt as special as it did, they’d just kissed. For a while. Something like an hour, no big deal.

But as Kei sat in the bus and started reflecting on last night’s events, he realised it was a big deal. That had definitely been something, he couldn’t sweep this one under the rug. Kuroo had kissed him. They’d kissed each other. Multiple times. Once more this very morning.

After the strange feeling of absolute fulfilment had passed, Kei was left with a much meaner feeling that settled deep into his bones and his bloodstream, leaving him stressed and shivery. Kei banged his head against the window next to him.

Why? Why in the world would a guy like Kuroo, a guy with such great friends and a sinfully perfect body, be interested in Kei? Why would he admit to liking him if he wasn’t mad, or if he wasn’t joking? Why were his eyes so earnest when he said absolutely impossible things? Why would he even want to kiss him in the first place?

Kuroo was, without a doubt, amazing. He’d went head first into this relationship as if it was a very investing book that had a predictably nice ending. Kei wasn’t trying to be a pessimist, but he couldn’t picture many ways that this wouldn’t end very, very badly.

Was it because Kuroo was stupid? Desperate, maybe? Kuroo could have anyone in Tokyo, pick any man, straight or not, they’d probably drool all over him. So what was it? There was still the possibility that this was all a big, mean joke. A pretty elaborate one, at that.

Was Kuroo the kind of guy to win you over just to sleep with you? Probably not, but you never know.

Kuroo was getting way too close, and Kei was letting him selfishly, like a spoiled child. He pulled that poor boy in with candy hanging from a fishing rod, with little to no intentions of ever letting that candy go. Why would he let a life of pushing people away be ruined by Kuroo Tetsurou? He’d had no troubles in life so far by using this method.

Kei did not deserve Kuroo. He found enjoyment in being a terrible person, but being a terrible boyfriend, on the other hand, was not on his bucket list. He’d been totally fine thinking that he’d be single forever, he found nothing to be sad about in that prospect. Ruining Kuroo’s life, however, was not enjoyable.

It would be cruel to let Kuroo make a fool of himself by getting invested in this dead end of a relationship, where instead of a nicely worded ending, you get a blank page with “fin” written at the bottom in the smallest font possible.

Kei grabbed his head between both hands and mouthed a curse. What the fuck was he doing?

 

-

 

**[19:21] Shouyou**

Kenma?

 

The blond boy’s eyes went wide when he saw the message pop in the middle of his phone’s screen as he was playing one of his small games. Shouyou hadn’t tried to speak to him since that time he’d obviously tried to get Kuroo to tell him to answer. That also might’ve been Kei’s doing, now that he thought of it.

In all honesty, Kenma felt himself being childish at that point. He still felt humiliated and disposable, but he wasn’t a baby. He opened the notification and began writing.

 

**[19:25] Kenma**

Yes?

 

He waited for Shouyou to respond while he bit down on his lower lip.

 

**[19:26] Shouyou**

I can’t believe you just answered!

 

Kenma smiled at first, but suddenly, he shook his head and switched conversations to text Kuroo.

 

**[19:27] Kenma**

Shit I just replied to Shouyou

**[19:27] Kuro**

Great!

**[19:28] Kenma**

You really think I should?

**[19:28] Kuro**

Did you want to?

 

Kenma looked away from his phone and thought a little. Well, it had made him smile instantly, which was a good thing. A very rare thing.

 

**[19:29] Kenma**

Ya

**[19:30] Kuro**

Then yes, I think you should talk to him

 

The contrast with a week ago, when Kuroo had told him that he should at least answer, but that Shouyou wasn’t good enough for him, was huge. There was no warning, just support. Kenma went back to his conversation with Shouyou.

 

**[19:30] Kenma**

Yeah, sorry

**[19:31] Shouyou**

It’s fine!

**[19:31]**

I just wanted to let you know that i’m really really sorry!!!

**[19:31] Kenma**

Yeah, you’ve said that already

**[19:32] Shouyou**

Are you still angry Kenma?

 

There was no filter on that boy. It was all straight to the point. Kenma took a deep breath and decided to be honest for once.

 

**[19:32] Kenma**

Yes

**[19:32]**

It made me feel very bad

**[19:33]**

More than it should have, I guess

 

There were long, very long seconds before he got a reply.

 

**[19:34] Shouyou**

I understand that now

**[19:34]**

I never meant to make you feel bad

**[19:34]**

I’m so dumb sometimes

**[19:35]**

I miss talking to you

 

Kenma gasped a little at that last message, but then he slapped himself metaphorically for projecting too much of his own feelings.

 

**[19:35] Kenma**

I miss it too

 

-

 

On Saturday night, Kuroo was laying down in bed, thinking that he should probably call Tsukishima before it would be too late. That boy and his sleepiness, it was like an undefeatable force of nature. They should probably discuss about where they were now, because Kuroo had a feeling it had changed for Tsukki as well.

The phone rang four times before the blond picked up. He did not speak, instead he waited for Kuroo to say something first as if he had no idea how phone calls worked.

“Tsukki?” Kuroo asked the static, a little puzzled by the absence of greetings he’d gotten.

The boy on the other end cleared his throat, but he still sounded choked up. “ _Yeah._ ”

Kuroo frowned as he sat up straighter on his bed. “Are you okay?”

“ _Mmh?_ ” Tsukki breathed like his mind was elsewhere. “ _Ah, yeah, uhm, I’m… fine._ ”

To Kuroo’s ears, that did not sound fine at all. “Do you need me to come over?”

“ _Don’t,_ ” Kei said a little strongly and that threw Kuroo off the most. “ _Sorry. I’ll just… I’ll call you later, okay?_ ”

Kuroo was well on his way to panic, but for now, he could only blink at nothing as his confusion reached new heights. “You sure?”

“ _Mm-mh,_ ” Kei mumbled, and it sounded final, like he didn’t want to be asked any more questions. “ _Good night, Kuroo._ ”

Kuroo kept the phone pressed to his ear for an absurd amount of time after Kei hanged up. What was all that? They’d made so much progress lately, had he rushed him?

That thought set fire to Kuroo’s brain and he was now properly freaking out. His face was hot, his lungs were numb and there were blurry patches in his vision. He’d been pushy, he’d kissed him too soon, everything had happened too fast. Kei felt rushed, he’d been too shy to say it. He was keeping his mouth shut to please Kuroo. _Oh, fuck no_.

Kuroo was in the midst of a panic attack when his mom entered the room to wish him a good night. Startled, she rushed to the bed and pulled her son onto her lap, smoothing down his hair and shushing him calmly. He must’ve been staring at the wall like a psycho for it to be so obvious.

He tried to concentrate on his breathing and on the feeling of his mother’s hand going through his damp hair, but the thought that Tsukki hated him now was too devastating to change the channel. It was panic mode right now, nothing else was on.

His mother looked at him from above with worry in her soft eyes. “What is it, Tetsurou?”

“Mom, mom,” Kuroo tried, but he couldn’t find the words. His mother was not in the dark, he could tell her about Tsukishima, but he didn’t know how. His mind was like a scrabble’s letter bag. “I tried – I called. Tsukishima.”

“Okay baby,” his mom said with honey in her voice. It was grounding. “You called Tsukishima-kun, and what?”

Oh, _what?_ He wasn’t sure what. “He was… cold? And very weird? He said he was fine, but he was obviously not fine, and I… mom…,” Kuroo let out one embarrassing sob, and then he got a hold of himself. “He kinda hung up on me? I’m not sure, but I think so.”

His mother was nodding, her hand still tracing paths on Kuroo’s scalp. There was a cold lump in Kuroo’s stomach, spreading in his body like a numbing drug. His heart sped up even more.

“I might’ve rushed him and made him do something he didn’t want to do,” Kuroo explained, accusing himself instead of simply offering that possibility to his mother.

His mom’s weird stare made him reconsider what he’d just said, trying to find what was wrong with it. When he realised how it might’ve sounded, he gasped loudly and rushed in. “We didn’t – no, no, we didn’t do that! I just kissed him.”

“Just that?” she asked with a gleam of doubt in her eyes.

Kuroo felt the dread rise up again, with the threat of tears spilling from his eyes and his heartbeat peaking. “It was his first kiss,” Kuroo said, and it was painful to say that. What had he done?

His mother made an understanding ‘ah’ sound before her mouth twisted in a crooked line. “You really like that boy, don’t you?”

What an understatement, Kuroo thought. “Yeah,” he replied anyway, hurt, but smitten.

She smiled comfortingly, taking her fingers out of her son’s hair. “Then, you should give him all the time he needs.”

Kuroo nodded, his head still laying on his mother’s thighs. “I will,” he promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ........................
> 
> yELL AT ME PLEASE
> 
> When I listen to Close by Nick Jonas and Tove Lo I think of this
> 
> Next chapter is called "Saint-Yamaguchi" and trust me, that boy is a saint
> 
> my tumblr is [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/) if you want to go hate me over there


	18. Saint-Yamaguchi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friends asked me to come to an event with them and I said no because I wanted a free night to write this. I’m serious. I did that.

Kei was staring at the empty space before him, his eyes refusing to focus on the glass doors and the sidewalk behind it. The street looked like a big gray blub, and the cars reminded him of blurry stars. Since he’d gotten to work, all of his senses were on alert, flashing red like an alarm that’s been tripped.

Everything about this situation was horrible. Kei was disappointed in himself for letting it go this far, he was angry that he got into it, he was so, so mad. There was also the self-loathing, the longing, the loneliness, the stress… it was all horrible. Kei took a deep breath and tried to swallow down his mixed emotions. He was afraid, so very scared, but he wanted to see Kuroo so bad. All he wished for was to see Kuroo walk inside the store and smirk at him devilishly. But he did not deserve that, he could not travel down a road he would fall down from. Neither of them knew the right way to go. They both only had half of an idea of what was going on.

Kei’s half of an idea wasn’t all kittens and rainbows. Sure, it had made him feel insanely better to be with Kuroo, to find someone who was so open to him, someone who felt so much for him. He couldn’t allow himself to let Kuroo get stuck in this mess, and he was one big old mess right now.

He’d been mean, he’d been cynical, but he’d rarely been cruel. In the past, he’d been cruel with his team, with himself and with his dad. It had never been fulfilling, leaving him feeling empty and miserable. Against his own will, he was being cruel with Kuroo right now. The hurt he could hear in Kuroo’s voice, the confusion he had felt dripping like poison, seeping through the phone to reach Kei, they had sent shivers down his spine, and these ones were vicious, gripping at his flesh and his bones like tiny knives. It had kept him awake all night.

3 days without Kuroo and he was already going crazy.

 

-

 

**[10:26] Akiteru**

So??? Anything new? ;)

**[10:27] Kei**

There’s nothing to talk about.

 

With uncharacteristic anger, Kei turned his phone off and slammed it into a drawer full of old recycled paper. He was beyond the edge, he’d lost it a couple of days ago when Kuroo had texted him “Sorry if I did anything” in the middle of the night on a Tuesday. He hadn’t been sleeping either.

He’d thought about calling his mom. Hell, he’d thought about calling Kuroo and beg him to come over just to see his face again. He hated the way Kuroo had kissed him so amazingly that it polluted his dreams, on the rare occasions he was able to fall asleep. He was also paranoid that Kuroo would turn up anywhere he was.

When he started to be tired of his own restlessness, he picked up a book that one of his coworkers had forgotten there. He had read two pages in 10 minutes, unable to focus, when a middle aged woman walked in the store.

Only retail workers understand the absolute despair you feel when you get a customer just when you thought you were being left alone for once. Kei kept his eyes on the book, seeing the words dance in front of his eyes like incomprehensible sigils.

“It’s been a while I haven’t done this,” the woman said loudly as she walked to a self-serve machine. That meant she was asking for help, which Kei was in no shape to give.

The pages of the book got blurry as Kei stared at them for too long, keeping his eyes open even though they were burning.

“I’m sorry to bother your reading,” she spoke even louder, like a condescending old lady who can’t believe how lazy young people can be.

Kei took a deep breath. His lungs hurt from how much air he had gulped in. His face must’ve been turning red. He took his eyes off the book and glared at the woman. His exhale was shaky and frustrated. “We’re closed,” Kei said, cold like an automatic machine.

The woman raised an eyebrow at him. “No you’re not, I’ve seen the opening hours outside and it says that you’re-“

“Closed, we are closed mam.”

The woman looked startled, but most of all she was concerned rather than insulted like Kei had expected. “Okay, I’ll, huh, come back later.”

She went out as fast as she had went in, and Kei had never been more grateful in his life for such an understanding person. He went to turn the “open” sign to “closed” and left for the back store to get himself together.

 

-

 

Kenma was looking at Kuroo from the side like a weirded out mother, but it’s not like Kuroo didn’t deserve that look. Bokuto glared questioningly at Kenma who could only shrug in complete confusion.

“Koutarou, could you please tell me what the fuck is going on with your better half?” The coach asked Bokuto, staring warily at Kuroo like he’d just seen him walk out of a nuclear accident.

“I have no idea, coach,” Bokuto replied, and Kenma joined them then, getting away from Kuroo who was picking volleyballs from the bag only to throw them as hard as he could on the net so they’d fall flat on the floor and roll back to him.

The coach made a funny face before he yelled: “Basketball practice is in the other gymnasium, Testurou!”

Kuroo turned sharply to look at his coach, who was standing about 10 feet away with his concerned friends and Ena who looked like she was going to start crying no matter what would come out of Kuroo’s mouth. “Then give me something to spike,” he grumbled darkly.

The coach looked around expectantly until everyone caught on and joined Kuroo on the court for a quick match where 90% of Kenma’s sets were sent to Kuroo and the opposing team would duck the hell out of the way.

Ena was running around trying to pick up the volleyballs that Kuroo had thrown all over the place, almost getting murdered every five seconds. From an outsider’s perspective, it probably looked like a scene from a renaissance painting.

After they were done with the short match and Kuroo had eased off a little, Bokuto texted Daichi to see if he knew anything about this situation. All he replied with was “Trouble in paradise”.

 

-

 

Attending class when you hadn’t slept much for a week kind of made you feel like you were on drugs. The high wasn’t so pleasant, but at least your mind would shut off for a little while and leave you feeling like there was nothing else in the world that mattered besides your own exhaustion. That could only last for so long, though. Kei had to shake off the sleepiness, the class would be over soon.

When the teacher dismissed the class, Tsukishima grabbed his bag tightly and walked out the door as fast as he could. He wanted to get home, to lie down and think, or maybe to hit himself on the head enough times to die. One or the other.

He walked down the stairs as fast as he could, eyeing the door of the parking lot with so much focus that he didn't see the person walking in front of the stair case. He stopped moving suddenly, running into the guy's shoulder with strength. When Tsukishima heard the other curse, but in a soft way, like he didn't do that often, he frowned and turned around to look at him. For the moment, his project of going home as fast as possible was on hold.

Yamaguchi was holding his left shoulder in a strong grip, trying to release some of the pain by doing so. He felt eyes on his back, so he looked over his other shoulder, a small accusing glare aimed at whoever was looking. His eyes went wide with realisation as he stopped squeezing his shoulder and turned in Tsukishima's direction.

"Tsukki!" Yamaguchi practically yelled, his expression going back and forth between a happy smile and a worried gaze. "It's been a while."

Tsukishima bit the inside of his cheek violently. _I know_ , he wanted to say. _I found a stray cat_. "Yeah, sorry, I'm really busy," he said with a dead voice.

Yamaguchi smiled at him nonetheless, working really hard not to let any emotion show that was anything else than blind happiness to be seeing him again for the first time in weeks. "Yeah, me too. Maybe we could try to find a day where we're both free to hang out? Like in the old times and all..."

Yamaguchi was obviously expecting Tsukishima to curve the question and find a way to say no. That made him feel sick. "Yeah, yeah okay. Normally I work when I'm free, but I'll find time."

The freckled boy stared at his best friend for a long time, his eyebrows furrowing over his eyes. "Are you okay?"

 _No_. "Yes," Tsukishima said, his gaze confused and shifty.

"You're agitated," Yamaguchi said before walking a step in Tsukki's way.

Tsukishima tried to make it look like he didn't get where Yamaguchi was coming from. "Am I?"

Yamaguchi bit on his lip nervously, looking around to find an exit. "Were you going home?"

"Yeah," Tsukishima answered without thinking.

"Okay then," Yamaguchi agreed, grabbing Tsukishima's forearm and dragging him outside. "Come on."

With a very half-hearted protest, Tsukishima followed Yamaguchi out the door, feeling a little shaken up.

They came to a stop just a meter or two away from the door, the hot air of July brushing their hair to the right in an almost comical way. Tskushima and the sky were both pretty agitated.

"What's up," Yamaguchi asked, his smile warm and filled with good intentions. His face was familiar. It was all too familiar. As fragile as he was right now, just the familiarity of this face and those eyes could make Tsukishima say things he didn't want to say.

In a loud sigh, he looked down at Yamaguchi, feeling his entire body tense up. He couldn't tell him. "School, work, I guess it's just stress," Tsukishima said in a rush, shrugging his shoulders to add to his statement.

"I've never seen you like this," Yamaguchi affirmed simply, but what he really meant was that he'd seen him stressed out a good number of time and it was never like that. "You look like someone's following you or something."

Just after he said that, his eyes went wide and he pressed even closer to Tsukki in despair. "Tell me no one's following you!"

"There's no one after me, so don't worry," Tsukishima denied, irritated from Yamaguchi's exaggerated reaction. The other boy took a step back.

Yamaguchi breathed out loudly. "Okay, alright," he huffed to himself. "I got scared for a minute there."

Tsukishima opened his eyes wider and nodded in agreement. "There's just stuff on my mind, it's really nothing."

"Stuff on your mind?" Yamaguchi repeated incredulously.

The blond boy rolled his eyes and sighed. "I have the capacity of over thinking things, you know?"

This did nothing to lessen Yamaguchi's curiosity. "Over think? No, you're right, you do that a lot. Not enough to make you sick, though."

"Sick?" Tsukki repeated accusingly, offended.

Yamaguchi tilted his head on the side and looked at Tsukishima like he was an idiot. "You look like you've been pulling all-nighters since the day you were born."

Tsukishima sighed in surrender. "I've had trouble sleeping all week. Normally, I'm okay for the day, but I think the exhaustion just caught up to me."

Yamaguchi's eyebrows were crouched and his worried pout was too much to look at. "Do you want to talk about it?"

For once in his life, Tsukishima thought about it before outright rejecting the help that was being offered to him. Maybe he needed someone to listen. That could clear things up.

He took a deep breath before he spoke. "Yeah, okay, if you have time to listen."

Tsukishima could see that Yamaguchi was absolutely surprised, but he didn't let it show too much in his answer. "Long story?"

"Complicated," is all the explanation the blond gave.

Yamaguchi smirked at him. "Well, I don't have any other classes today. I was going to the library to finish a paper, but it can wait."

This boy had such a good soul. Tsukki had wondered a couple of times in the past why Yamaguchi had chosen to associate himself with someone like the horrible person he was. He had never figured out, but he was grateful of his poor life choices.

"Well, start with the start," Yamaguchi encouraged him with a smile.

"Let's walk, okay? Talking in front of the door is too freaking awkward."

Yamaguchi laughed shortly and followed his friend on the sidewalk. The parking lot was their only witness now. "So..." he tried shyly.

"Yeah, so," Tsukishima sighed, picking up his courage from the dirty ground. "I'm in this fucked up situation because I met someone."

"You met someone?" Yamaguchi's caring curiosity was more helpful than Tsukishima had expected. Was this something to be happy about?

"Yeah, kind of. He's a... he's a he."

Yamaguchi opened his mouth in understanding and nodded a couple of times. "Oh, that's fine."

"Is it?" Tsukishima asked, eyeing the scenery, letting his gaze sweep everything around him except for Yamaguchi.

The other boy's answer was to laugh like he was just asked the stupidest question in the world. "Of course it is. Honestly, I could never figure out what kind of girls you liked. I get it now."

Tsukishima didn't have enough energy to hide his face with his hands, so he just endured his shame in the open.

"Wait, are you confused because of that?" Yamaguchi asked abruptly, interrupting the silence.

Tsukishima shrugged, but he still had that anxious glimpse in his eyes that didn't seem to be ready to leave. "It's everything, you know. He's just so... intense. It's like he's trying to make me believe that he doesn't see I'm a killjoy."

Yamaguchi smiled at him like he was sorry about it and Tsukishima didn't feel like he had enough energy to be mad about it. "Has it crossed your mind that you might be fun to be around?"

"Are you kidding me? You're the guy who's endured me since we were ten, how can you even say that seriously?"

It was Yamaguchi's time to shrug now, but he did it with a smile. "You said it yourself. I've known you for so long, I think you can trust me."

Tsukishima nodded negatively, rolling his eyes. "You don't know me when I'm like that. I reject affection on reflex, I'm borderline insulting."

"And how does he deal with that?" Yamaguchi wondered with seriousness, looking up at Tsukishima gently.

The blond had no idea where this was going. "Well... he waits. He asks before he does anything."

"See, I don't think he sees it the way you do. He sees boundaries, you see a barrier. Would that make sense?"

Well, yes. Kuroo had called it boundaries a couple of times before. Tsukki felt like he was a concrete wall. It made sense.

Yamaguchi could see the realisation making its way on Tsukishima's face, so he smiled his way and patted him on the back. "I can't believe you're telling me there's a guy out there who's nice enough to deal with you and you're second guessing it?"

"Hey! You said I wasn't that bad," Tsukishima barked at Yamaguchi, who simply laughed at him.

"Kidding, kidding," the other boy rushed to say as he kept laughing. "But still, what is it that bothers you? That he cares about you?"

"Maybe," Tsukishima said without thinking first. He decided he wasn't going to filter whatever he'd want to say starting now. He'd get it over with. "I don't feel like I deserve it."

Yamaguchi was still smiling dumbly and it was starting to annoy Tsukishima, but he didn't say anything. He suddenly felt so dumb for even having emotions, something he used to avoid so easily in the past.

"You think he'd be going through all that dating trouble if you didn't deserve it?"

Tsukki felt his face flush and he decided that he had had enough. "That doesn't mean I'm happy being a bother to him."

Yamaguchi sighed, putting a break to the walking by grabbing his friend's arm and forcing him to turn in his direction. "If you're so worried about that, try to change your attitude, but as I hear it, that's what he likes about you, so don't go and ruin yourself just because you want to be practical for other people."

Tsukishima opened his eyes wide, letting the words sink in. Was he really trying to become practical rather than stay the guy that Kuroo met at the store and who made him decide to come back every time he worked just to say hi? He wasn't so sure.

He really wanted to see Kuroo right now, more than ever.

"I think that, if you worked on yourself, you could get enough confidence to understand why he's trying so hard," Yamaguchi added in a firm voice. It was almost funny to Tsukki.

"You really believe that?" the blond asked half-mockingly, half-seriously.

Yamaguchi shrugged in a wordless I don't know. "I believe that you can do whatever you want, Tsukki."

After a long silence and a little nod, Yamaguchi squinted his eyes and tilted his head on the side just a little, like a curious animal. "Wait, are you talking about Kuroo?"

Kei wanted to die from the embarrassment. "Who else?" he answered, slapping both of his hands right in the middle of his face. Yamaguchi giggled lightly.

“That’s cool,” he said airily, “I think that’s the kind of person you need.”

Tsukishima nodded silently, having just arrived to the same conclusion.

 

-

 

Ena was looking at the small boy who was staring up at her like he’d do anything she’d dare him to. He had the determination of a thousand men, stuffed inside the body of a high schooler.  

“Kenma, you say?” She asked again, making sure she wasn’t imagining things. That did happen to her when she was little. She’d hear words nobody had said anywhere near her.

Hinata nodded sharply, keeping his intimidating gaze right on Ena’s face. “Absolutely.”

He was in luck, Kenma was still in the gymnasium waiting for Kuroo to stop sulking about Tsukishima and _follow him in the changing room already you’re killing me come on was I like that too? How did you not murder me?_

She asked Hinata to wait a minute as she went back inside to fetch Kenma. Hinata heard Kuroo whine a little when his best friend got taken away from him. When Kenma came out of the gymnasium, he was sulking, wary of whatever was waiting for him outside. Would it be work? Would he have to make an effort?

When he saw Shouyou, it’s like his entire world lighted up. “Shouyou,” he mouthed silently, but the awed tone was still there.

Shouyou grinned his sunshine smile. “I thought I’d ask for a second chance,” he said, trying to look all innocent.

Kenma was stunned in silence. Shouyou laughed at the lack of response. “Go change and we’ll hang out.”

Kenma had to blink a couple times to clear his mind and get his body moving again. “Okay, alright, I’ll be quick, uhm, just – okay.”

He then ran inside the changing room, and Shouyou raised a thumb at Ena who did the same thing. Kuroo was standing in the doorway of the gymnasium with a strange look on his face, like he was happy and sad at the same time. “Take care of him, kiddo,” he said very clearly and very seriously before he also headed for the changing room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so now i'm working full time, but the plus side is that I also work in a dumb photo place and it's dead as all shit so I have sooo much time to write. I read and I write. I should be a librarian.
> 
> Yamaguchi has blessed us amen
> 
> Comments still make me feel like I'm miss universe so if you like making me feel like that you can always leave one idk anything really
> 
> Next chapter is called "Dread" but I swear it won't be that bad
> 
> Tumblr is [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/) as always


	19. Dread/Alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m taking y’all on a feels trip.

It was easy to say, like most things were. “ _Get it over with_ ”, “ _Say sorry and move on_ ”, “ _Give yourself a chance_ ”. Yamaguchi made it seem so easy when it rolled off his tongue in a reassuring, slightly condescending voice, like someone who is blind to how hard something can be. Kei knew Kuroo would probably be ecstatic to see him again, but he wasn’t ready for that yet. He had to brace himself for the after blow of all the self-hate he’d feel when he’d see Kuroo, and he was far from ready. He’d swore he wouldn’t make him wait for two weeks again, and that very day marked two weeks since the morning after of their first kiss. He felt like gouging his eyes out and going on with his life as the poor guy with no eyes who wouldn’t have to see all the sadness on Kuroo’s face. Or something like that.

The truth was, Kei was tired of running away from someone who wasn’t chasing him. He kept thinking about that time Kuroo had told him he had a thing for being wanted or expected, and Tsukki was starting to think that that was very true. He felt like he was pulled to Kuroo, like a cloud in his head was always going to blur everything else out while he’d still get a clear image of the boy. Kei did not want to be wanted by anyone else than Kuroo. That was the truth, and it was a shameful one.

As he had Yamaguchi on the phone while he was closing the store, he spoke those very words, as appalling as they would be to his very best friend. It turned out Yamaguchi wasn’t very shocked.

“ _Well, everyone needs a special someone, I guess_ ,” he had said like a wise wizard, and Tsukishima wanted to laugh so bad, but he held it in.

Kei pinched his lips hard to shake off the hilarity of how serious Yamaguchi was being with this. “Don’t you think it’s kind of weird? Like, I don’t need that, but I want that.”

Yamaguchi sighed in a high pitched sound, and it was soft and calming. “ _I think it’s time you get something that you want_.”

Tsukki still wasn’t sure about the whole dating and being serious thing. If he got where Kuroo was coming from, that was the type of things he should be expecting next. After the cuddles and the “I like you” and the kissing, sure enough the next logical step was… terrifying.

But it was the kind of terrifying that made people jump from airplanes, instead of the absolute terror of feeling like you’re going to get murdered each time you blink.

Starting something with Kuroo didn’t scare him anymore, at least just the thought of it didn’t make Kei’s skin crawl like it used to a couple of weeks ago. It was Kuroo in himself that was making Kei uneasy now. He’d felt so bad, so responsible, and Tsukki had been so vague and distant. There was no easy way to come up to someone and say something that amounted to “I am sorry that I have hurt you, I put the blame on my numerous flaws as a human being”. Actually, Kuroo would probably laugh if he said that.

When he shared that concern with Yamaguchi, he’d repeated his previous words: “ _Get it over with as fast as possible_.”

 

-

 

Kenma reached out to grab Hinata’s arm so he wouldn’t cross the street without looking and get hit by a car. Hinata swung around to gaze at him, but he had a grateful smile on his lips.

“You’ve got to be careful, Tokyo is dangerous,” Kenma said in a small voice, keeping his head down like an embarrassed child who can’t find his mother.

Hinata looked down at Kenma’s hand still wrapped around his bicep and then back up into Kenma’s eyes. The blond stared at Shouyou for a short second before he took his hand off like it was suddenly burning.

“It’s fine,” Hinata sing-sang, bumping his shoulder into Kenma’s. “If you think you need to pull me away from danger, I’d rather you do it. When I’m afraid my sister will run around and get hit by a car or a train or something like that, I grab her hand.”

Kenma felt like he was being teased, and he was pretty sure there was steam coming out of his ears. Was Hinata telling him he could just take his hand if he wanted? Was that what was happening?

No, Kenma was probably just projecting again. Hinata didn’t know the weight of what it sounded like he was saying. He had no concept of anything. Kenma had to breathe, he had to breathe _real_ deep.

“If worse comes to worse,” Hinata babbled again, crossing the street with Kenma when the green sign showed up, “you can carry me on your back. I bet I would be safe from harm’s way there.”

It was so hard to know if he was doing it on purpose or not that Kenma wanted to give up and lay down on the sidewalk for a few moments. “I don’t think I’m strong enough for that,” Kenma replied shyly, fearing that Hinata would leave again if he stayed silent much longer.

Shouyou’s laugh bubbled up like pure sunlight again, and Kenma was blushing just from hearing it. “We’ll have to try to know that,” the ginger said once his adorable laughter died down.

“I guess you’re right,” Kenma said earnestly, but he shrugged casually at the end.

In the split of a second, Hinata stored the piggyback ride for later in his mind and changed the topic completely. “So, where are we going again?”

His warm smile and his slightly tanned skin really did something to Kenma’s stomach, or his heart, or any other organ that could squeeze and cause that feeling of helplessness in front of someone that made you feel stupid. “Cat café,” Kenma answered, a subtle smile breaking on his lips for a short second. He was happy to go there with Shouyou.

Hinata nodded his head up and down, grinning more fondly at Kenma. “Cat café, huh? Nice!”

Kenma looked right in front of him so Hinata couldn’t see the dark flush that had taken over his face.

 

-

 

Kei had said _one more day_ too many times at this point. It was childish to keep Kuroo waiting just because he was scared of explaining, of admitting how dumb this had all been. He would have to look into Kuroo’s eyes and say this was all his fault, and he needed a lot of strength for that. As he walked from his work place to Kuroo’s house, he had his mind set. He’d have to talk to Kuroo tonight, to get everything that he could out of his system so that it wouldn’t keep him up at night anymore.

The walk felt way too short, and in no time, he was standing in front of Kuroo’s house in the middle of the street. There was no car in the driveway, which was a good thing. Kei did not necessarily desire an audience.

It was nerve wracking to come face to face with your insecurities and have to share them with someone else. Kuroo had always been so accommodating and understanding, so Kei wasn’t expecting any less with this situation. Nevertheless, it made him feel weak.

He took a step toward the house.

 

-

   

When Kuroo opened the door, Tsukki was halfway through his second round of knocking on it. He looked up nervously, and Kuroo, with glaring wide eyes, took a step back to let him in, but the blond didn't move. Worry settled deep inside Kuroo's guts at the thought that this was the end. Tsukki was here to breakup. They weren't even together, for fuck's sake.

Tsukishima looked tired, and that made Kuroo feel absolutely horrible. He just wanted to grab Tsukki and pull him in an hour long hug.

"Oh," Tsukishima started as he looked back down, "I'm not gonna be too long."

"Okay," Kuroo said, because that was the only thing he knew how to say in the moment.

Tsukki took a deep breath, the type that doesn't sound like a good sign, and then he looked up into Kuroo's eyes, which was just unacceptable. The older boy could barely hold the stare.

"I just want to start by saying that this is not your fault at all, in any way imaginable. This is all on me.”

Kuroo was a little shaken up by this, but he still nodded.

Tsukki then looked to the side, but his face didn't look like he was sad or anything like that, he looked embarrassed. "Also, I guess I should thank you for not looking for me. I admit I expected you to show up at some point, so I wasn't sure what to think at first, but it's fine now."

Kuroo frowned at him, really confused as to where this was going. "Yeah, I wanted to give you space," he then told Tsukki, the worry still clearly present in his voice.

"I thought about all this", Tsukishima said after a long exhale full of unshed tears and bottled in guilt, "and I am so sorry for leaving you without an explanation and avoiding you for two weeks.”

Kuroo blinked once, twice, before he shut his eyes hard to get back to the real world. "What did you have to think about?"

Tsukki brought his gaze back to Kuroo. "Me," he replied with a certain disdain, like he was mad at his own doubts and self-loathing. Which he was.

Kuroo bit his lower lip, worried about what that poor boy had been putting himself through. "Listen, Tsukki," he started as he took one of Kei’s hands and squeezed it, "I don't know if you've been treated badly in the past or if that's just the way you are, but either way, I'm going to work with it, because I want you to feel safe and happy with me. I'm sorry I wasn't able to make you feel like that yet."

Tsukishima gazed at Kuroo with scrunched eyebrows, his expression a mix of shock and fondness. "No, you have. Actually, I didn't feel like I was enough for you."

"You're more than enough," Kuroo whispered as he walked outside and pulled Tsukki into a tight hug. "You're more than I deserve."

"Do you have a script or something?" Tsukki asked with a nervous laugh, wrapping his arms around Kuroo's hips in response to the hug.

The older boy scoffed, and then squeezed tighter. "Actually, I'm a poet."

They stayed like that for a while, swaying lightly with their eyes closed and their heart beating too fast. Kuroo was the first to look up and let the other go. "Would you like to come in now?"

Tsukishima opened his eyes and looked at him with a side smile before he acquiesced and walked inside, followed by Kuroo.

Kuroo closed the door after himself, twisting his body smoothly toward Kei after he was done. At that exact moment, he was tackled by a second hug, warmer than the first and stronger too. Behind the protection of four walls, Kei also dared to fit his face in the crook of Kuroo’s neck, leaning on him like his legs were suddenly weak. Kuroo was holding tight, breathing in deeply and rubbing soothing circles in Kei’s back. That was worth everything.

“I made you wait two weeks again,” Tsukki said before he loosened up his hold on Kuroo a little bit. “I’m so sorry.”

Kei was now facing Kuroo, and all that regret, all the fear and all the deep hurt was shining through his eyes in a thin smudge of tears. Kei was sorry for how he had felt, how he had reacted, but also how he’d made Kuroo feel. Kuroo rushed to grab Kei’s jaw between careful hands and he pressed a fervent kiss on the blond’s lips. Kei had a blissed sigh at the contact, his legs going a little limp again. Kei was in a dreamlike state when Kuroo backed away and turned one of his hands around to rub Kei’s cheek as softly as possible. Kuroo could feel how miserable he’d been these past few weeks just by looking at the dark circles underneath his eyes. At least the tears were gone now.

Without a word of explanation, Kuroo grabbed Kei’s hand with the same hand he’d been smoothing over his face just seconds before and dragged him to the living room where the coffee table was full of books with a laptop balanced on top of the mess. Kuroo sat on the couch and got Tsukki to follow his lead.

“Come on,” Kuroo said with a wave of his hand when he lied down with his back against the back pillows, waiting for Tsukki to follow him down. Kei obliged quickly, pressing his back to Kuroo’s chest and letting him pull his body as close as he wanted.

Kei would’ve been content with just staying like this and falling asleep in Kuroo’s arms, but he’d wake up feeling guilty and anxious. Shaking a little, Kei looked over his shoulder and stared at Kuroo’s face with a serious expression.

“Too tight?” Kuroo asked as he took some tension out of his arms.

“No, it’s fine, I just wanted to make sure we’re on the… same page,” Tsukki finished, his mouth twisting into a pained pout.

Kuroo frowned, and some fresh worry appeared in his eyes. It killed Kei to see it so clearly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m willing to try it out,” Kei said slowly, hating each word that came out of his mouth, “but this is not… anything official, okay?”

Kuroo breathed out in relief. That was a much better reaction than what Kei had hoped for. “We’re not in a hurry, are we?”

Tsukki had a shy smile when he shifted his gaze to look in front of him again. “No, we’re not,” he replied as he took one of Kuroo’s hands in his.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!
> 
> I realised that this chapter was actually two chapters in my plan so that's why it's got two names now. It doesn't make sense but it's like that. The fic might still be 30 chapters though, I like round numbers.
> 
> The next chapter is called "The Volleyball Court" which I described as "One of the sappiest thing I'll ever write" so stay tunned.
> 
> Comments make me really happy no joke!!
> 
> Tumblr is [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/) too


	20. The Volleyball Court

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya!!! This chapter is going to be quite longer than what I normally write, I hope this isn’t a problem. Seriously, this is like 4 chapters in one.

**[19:23] Akiteru**

Still nothing?

 

Kei had just been running his hands through Kuroo’s hair for 10 minutes, with Kuroo seated between his legs on the bed and his back pressed against Kei’s chest.

He withdrew his hands from the messy hair to be able to grab his phone, and Kuroo reacted in a little disgruntled noise.

“It won’t be long,” Tsukishima said as he unlocked the phone and read the text he’d just received.

 

**[19:24] Kei**

Yeah well

**[19:24]**

Might've jumped the gun with my pessimism

**[19:25] Akiteru**

Weren't you firm on calling it realism?

**[19:25] Kei**

Not when I'm being this dumb, no

 

Kuroo had a small frustrated huff, so Kei set down his phone and looked over his notes with him. “Come on, you’ll be fine, you thought you were gonna fail the previous one too and you aced it. Don’t freak out over that, you did all you could.”

“I just –,“ Kuroo made a vague gesture at his forehead, “I wish I could just push the notes inside my head and know everything. I could learn anything I wanted. That would be cool as hell.”

Kei nodded, but his eyes were calling Kuroo crazy. “Only a lazy ass like you would want that.”

“Not true! You would like that too! Admit it!”

Kei had a small laugh at Kuroo’s intensity. “I value hard work, unlike some people who don’t see the reward in that.”

Kuroo had an offended pout. “I see it, I just think it could be easier. I’m a guy who likes getting a break sometimes, sue me.”

“Fine,” Kei sighed, taking Kuroo’s notes from his hands. “I’ll help you memorize this but you better repay me later.”

“I can either pay you in cash or give you a check,” Kuroo joked, feeling triumphant. Kei melted a little at the boy’s smile.

A little while later, a couple of messages from Akiteru had gone unanswered.

 

**[19:29] Akiteru**

So what's up now?

**[19:34]**

Kei?

**[19:37]**

I guess that answers my question

**[19:40] Kei**

You're disgusting

**[19:40]**

Am I not allowed to do anything else while you're texting me?

**[19:41] Akiteru**

Are you with him right now?

**[19:43] Kei**

Yeah, but he's freaking out about a test

**[19:43] Akiteru**

So you're in a crisis situation

**[19:45] Kei**

He's not as bad as you

**[19:46]**

He never yelled at me that he'd die a horrible death if I didn't find a way to stuff cheat sheets inside his jacket's sleeves

**[19:47] Akiteru**

That happened once

**[19:47] Kei**

That specific incident only happened once

**[19:48]**

I can list more if you want

**[19:48] Akiteru**

I'll be fine as it is

**[19:49]**

So is there any progress?

**[19:49] Kei**

I guess

**[19:49] Akiteru**

You guess?

**[19:50] Kei**

Well we're on the way there I guess

**[19:50] Akiteru**

On the way where?

 

Tsukki glanced at Kuroo who was sprawled between his legs, his head resting under Kei’s neck and his breathing even. He was always tired lately, with school, volleyball and Kenma texting him all hours of the day to get advice about Hinata. Kei didn’t mind it so much if it meant that he could hold him like this, but of course, he was also trying to stop wondering what that meant. Kuroo really liked to be in Kei’s arms, so he guessed he was happy to make Kuroo happy. He also knew that was a very bad excuse.

 

**[19:52] Kei**

You really want me to say it?

**[19:52] Akiteru**

I wanna meet the guy

**[19:53] Kei**

Are you being serious?

**[19:54] Akiteru**

I thought I’d told you I wanted to meet him

**[19:54] Kei**

You had but I thought you meant when it’d get serious

**[19:55] Akiteru**

Isn’t that what’s happening?

 

Kei felt like taking his cellphone to his mouth and biting in it. He kind of hated when his brother got all invested in his life, like it was suddenly interesting to him whereas it hadn’t been before. Akiteru liked to be let in on everything so that he could show up when it got interesting. He was a real parasite sometimes, but older brothers all were a little bit intense. Akiteru was probably making up for if he’d had a sister or something.

 

**[19:56] Kei**

You really piss me off

**[19:57]**

I guess the smoothest way to go about this would be for you to join us Saturday

**[19:57]**

We’re crashing Kuroo’s practice with Hinata and Yamaguchi so it would be a little more natural if you showed up with us

**[19:58] Akiteru**

I like how you give up so quickly

**[19:58]**

And you try to make it practical for everybody

**[19:59]**

I’ll make sure to tell him you’re a real catch

**[20:00] Kei**

Please die

 

-

 

They had decided to show up a little later so they wouldn’t disturb the actual practice. They didn’t want to make the coach angry, because that man was scary and they did not wish to face his wrath.

When their little group showed up, the guys were picking up the equipment and putting it away. They stopped in their tracks when they noticed the visitors. Kuroo walked up to Tsukki with a curious smile and a raised eyebrow. “What’s up?” he asked worriedly.

“These little guys wanted to play,” Kei said as he tilted his head toward Hinata and Yamaguchi who took this as their cue to walk inside the gym and run to Kenma who was simply startled.

“Alright,” Kuroo replied, stretching the last syllable of his word.

Kei sighed, feeling immensely uncomfortable. “And this is my brother, who decided my life wasn’t bad enough as it was.”

“Pleasure,” Akiteru said with a little sign of his head.

Kuroo smiled politely at him and nodded back. “Nice meeting you too.” He then turned around and walked back to the center of the gymnasium. “Let’s keep the net up, I’ll put it away later.”

One guy with very pronounced dark circles asked “Does that mean we can go home?”

“Yeah,” Kuroo replied with a shrug. Bokuto ran up to him, but Kuroo was busy looking around for Kenma to make sure he wasn’t passed out somewhere from getting too much attention.

“Dude, can I stay?” Bokuto asked, and he was one wag of tail away from being a begging puppy.

Kuroo glanced at him questioningly. “What? Yeah, sure bro, just don’t do anything crazy.”

“Roger that,” Bokuto yelled before he left for the storage room to grab a volleyball.

Kei and Akiteru had walked up to the benches next to the net, watching with mild interest as Hinata was begging Kenma to set for him. “I want to play with you! Please! I’ll buy you something!”

“Are you trying to bribe him?” Kuroo asked from the other side of the net with an amused look on his face.

“Yes I am!” Hinata answered with conviction. “Please Kenma, just once, just set to me once, please, please, please-“

“Ugh,” Kenma replied, but there was probably something in the voice he’d used that indicated Hinata that this was a positive ‘ugh’ because he jumped with glee and squeaked happily. “Once.”

Hinata nodded sharply, taking whatever he was getting.

Akiteru leaned toward Kei so he’d be heard when he’d whisper to him. “So, that’s Kuroo, the one with the black hair?”

Kei winced silently. “Yes, that’s him.”

“Alright. Just making sure, cause, you know, he seems pretty… independent.”

“That’s because you’re here,” Kei bit back, glaring at his brother from the side.

Akiteru clicked his tongue, annoyed. “I’m not intimidating.”

“I didn’t tell him much about you, and we’re not together, need I remind you.”

“Well maybe you should’ve told him that I knew about the progress,” Akiteru spat back, but he kept his voice down.

Kei rolled his eyes. “Okay, do you want me to walk on the court right there and make out with him in front of everyone just to make you happy?”

“I dare you,” Akiteru replied with a sadistic glint in his eyes.

Kei shook his head with desperation just as Yamaguchi was setting the ball and sending it to the other side of the net to be barely received by Bokuto.

“I’ve told him about the text you’ve seen. You can’t blame him for taking his distance.”

Akiteru smiled subtly. “I guess I can’t.”

They stayed quiet after that, watching the strange game that was unwinding before their eyes. Kuroo and Bokuto on one side, Kenma, Yamaguchi and Hinata on the other. Bokuto kept telling Hinata that he was doing a wonderful job and Kuroo had to keep telling him that they were currently on different teams. When Kenma got tired, they stopped everything and Hinata was left alone with Yamaguchi and Bokuto on the court. The three of them were still restless.

“Tsukishima!” Hinata yelled as he pointed at Kei as to avoid any confusion, “set for me!”

“I’m not a setter,” Kei answered with disdain. “You should ask Akiteru.”

Akiteru laughed good-heartedly. “I’m not a setter either. Come on, you’ve played a lot more recently than I have.”

“Still doesn’t make me a setter, sorry,” Kei said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Tsukki,” Kuroo voice taunted him from the other side of the net. “I’d like to see how you’d deal with Hinata.”

“Sure, you’d like to see that,” Kei sighed as he closed his eyes in exasperation. “Hinata, stop looking at me like that.”

“But pleeeeease!” the small boy whined with an exaggerated sad pout.

“No,” Kei said, definitive.

“Kei, come on,” Akiteru scolded him in a voice that sounded like he was calling his brother stupid without using words.

Kei clenched his teeth and took the time to breathe in and breathe out. “I know what the fuck you’re doing and I will murder you one day,” he said between his teeth before he walked on the court and joined Hinata as Yamaguchi left for the other side of the net. Kuroo went to sit on the bench, a good safe meter away from Akiteru. Of course, soon enough, he was joined by the older Tsukishima brother. Every muscle in his body went tense.

Akiteru noticed and laughed a little. “Chill, dude,” he said, and that was not the type of thing Kuroo had expected would come out of that mouth. “I’m not here to crucify you, I’m here to meet you.”

Kuroo looked at him doubtfully. “Did Kei ask you to do that?”

“You know he didn’t.”

Kuroo nodded in a way that meant _you’re damn right about that_. “So we’re cool? I mean, it’s weird having to ask that to someone you’ve just met, but considering-“

“We’re cool,” Akiteru replied, keeping his eyes on the game slowly forming before their eyes. Hinata was screaming at Kei about his set not being high enough and that he was doing it on purpose.

Kuroo glanced at Akiteru with a little bit of wonder in his eyes. “He’s lucky to have you as his brother. I don’t know many people who would be as understanding.”

Akiteru shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “I always made sure someone was there for him.”

There was something more to those simple words and Kuroo knew it. He respected Akiteru a lot for his dedication. Kuroo was lucky to have his mother, he was insanely lucky. She was okay with everything, from the sexual orientation to the anxiety. She was there for him every step of the way. For Tsukki, that precious person was Akiteru.

They both took a moment to look at the game that was going on. Kei had finally gotten the hang of setting high enough for Hinata, who was laughing and yelling as he ran around to catch Tsukki’s sets. They were high enough, sure, but they weren’t very precise.

Akiteru had a sad smile at the scene, which Kuroo did not really understand. Personally, he was just glad to see Tsukki play, but that situation seemed to be bittersweet for the older brother. “Could you ever make him play before?” he asked in a moment of silence.

Kuroo turned his head to look at him. “No,” he answered simply.

“Mmh,” Akiteru sighed, looking sadder by the second. “He told me he’d never play again when he finished high school. I didn’t take him seriously at first, but he refused every offer he got from universities who wanted him for their teams. He did all he could to be accepted in a university that did not have a team.”

Kuroo was intrigued now, but the curiosity he felt was painful. “Why?” he asked anyway.

“I’m not sure he’d want me to tell you if he didn’t already do it,” Akiteru said with guilt in his voice, “but I’ll say it anyway.”

With that warning, Tetsurou wasn’t so sure he wanted to know anymore, but his curiosity wasn’t much better than his mother’s.

“I…” Akiteru tried, his voice strangled, “I set up ridiculous standards for him to reach, and it was all lies. I couldn’t get on the regular team and I told him that I did. He was… pretty disappointed. He probably still is.”

Kuroo heard the emotion rising in Akiteru’s voice, but he didn’t want to trigger it completely, so he tried not to rush him by looking at the game and giving him time. That seemed to work.

“He kept playing, but he wasn’t making any efforts. He was always saying that there was no point in playing if all it did was let people down.”

Kuroo could see how Tsukki would jump to that conclusion.

Akiteru took a deep breath before he kept going. “He didn’t want to make friends with his team to make sure he wouldn’t get attached and find enjoyment in something he wanted to hate. He’s headstrong like that, sometimes.”

They both looked at Kei for a while, and he was fighting against a smile after Hinata fell down on his ass when he tried to receive Bokuto’s spike.

When Akiteru got back to Kuroo, he was still watching Kei carefully with stars in his eyes as if he was seeing him for the first time. Akiteru had a sly smirk at what he was witnessing. “Anyway,” he said to catch Kuroo’s attention, which was a bright success, “he’s been bitter about the sport since he was, like, 12. This is an extremely rare sight.”

Kuroo nodded, understanding the weight of Tsukki’s reluctance for volleyball. It was reminding him of failure, of disappointment, of sadness, of everything that killed the magic of any sport. He was built for volleyball, but it wasn’t built for him.

Tetsurou was once again in awe in front of Kei, watching him set to Hinata with long, graceful arms, block with powerful hands and move with agile legs. It was as magical as seeing Kenma run with all he had.

At that thought, Kuroo looked around for Kenma since he hadn’t seen him for a while. He spotted him laying down on the floor right next to the wall in the furthest corner of the gym. Reassured, he concentrated on Tsukki again until the blond decided that he’d had enough. Hinata stomped around a little bit before he gave up and went to lie down with Kenma.

Bokuto wished them all a good rest of their day before he left, and Yamaguchi went to change out of his gym clothes in a bathroom. Kei walked up to Kuroo and Akiteru, giving a knowing side-glance to his brother. “I’m gonna steal him, If you don’t mind.”

“Go ahead,” Akiteru replied innocently, which made Kei sigh noisily. He grabbed Kuroo’s wrist and guided him outside of the gym.

It’s like he could only breathe once he walked out of there. Kuroo got worried for a moment before Kei had a short laugh, the kind you have to hold until you can’t keep it in. “You should’ve seen your face when he sat next to you,” Kei teased, his voice calm and gently amused.

Kuroo had a chuckle at the reminder. “I didn’t know what to expect. He wanted to meet me?”

Kei nodded once before he yawned loudly. “Yeah, I guess he needed visual proof,” he answered with disdain.

There was a silent laugh on Tetsurou’s face. “We both know that’s not true.”

Kei rolled his eyes at him and then they were both smiling dumbly. They stayed unmoving in front of the open sidewalk, watching the students walking to the library or the cafeteria. These buildings were the only unlocked ones at this hour of the morning, excluding the gyms.

Kuroo grabbed Tsukki’s hand and grinned at him when Kei stared at him all scandalised. “Follow me,” he said without giving the other boy much of a choice.

They walked in between buildings and found a spot in a hollow amid the walls of the biology building and the gym. With a devious smirk, he pushed Tsukki into a wall and looked into his eyes from uncomfortably close. “I missed you last night.”

Kei shivered, and he didn’t know if it was because of the cold wall or because of his dumb physical reactions to Kuroo. “Not anything horrible, I hope,” Kei joked flatly.

Kuroo sighed a falsely amused laugh. “Just enough to really make me want to do this,” Tetsurou admitted before inching his face closer just a tad bit and fitting his lips against Kei’s. The blond had a muffled moan of surprise, and Kuroo went straight for the French kiss, which Tsukki allowed without protest. Kei liked the smooth feeling of a tongue against his own, even though that might be a little awkward for other people. Kuroo had taught him how to do it so it would never feel strange or gross to kiss with tongues. Kei was slowly becoming an expert at it.

With his head against the wall and his hands framing Tetsurou’s hips, Kei felt a wave of affection wash over him so he deepened the kiss, which was rapidly taken over by Kuroo who had Kei moaning again in a much less innocent way. They parted shortly after, both needing a good intake of air. They didn’t leave the other’s eyes since they were only focused on each other in the comfort of their almost invisibility. Just as Kuroo was cupping Kei’s cheek and heading for another kiss that aimed to be softer, Kei slammed a hand to his own mouth and waited for Kuroo to back away and question him.

Once Tetsurou was looking at him with a puzzled expression, Kei held on to both of the boy’s forearm to ground himself. That was going to be awfully embarrassing.

After he took his last courage breath, he looked up into Kuroo’s eyes and swallowed down the lump in his throat. “I like you too,” he said like he was deflating, emptying himself from all the stress and the fear he’d felt when he realised that he could say these words and mean them. Kuroo blinked at him an excessive amount of times and gasped silently before the air left his lungs in jerky exhales. He was absolutely speechless, which was what Kei had expected.

“Do you need help to breathe properly?” Kei asked with all the seriousness he could muster, but Kuroo knew he was being mocked.

“You little-,” Tetsurou attempted to threaten before he gave up and decided to kiss Kei again. That would teach him.

 

-

 

**[20:49] Kuroo**

Can I come over?

**[20:50] Kei**

My brother’s staying at my place

**[20:50] Kuroo**

:(

**[20:51] Kei**

But I guess I could leave him alone tho

**[20:51]**

Is your mom home?

**[20:52] Kuroo**

She comes back at 10

**[20:52] Kei**

I’ll be there in 15

 

Kei walked to the front door to grab his bag, and then back to his room to put his books and homework in it. He swung the bag on his shoulder before he walked out of his room, so Akiteru knew right then that he was going somewhere.

“Are you abandoning me?”

Akiteru was sitting on the couch, watching some cooking show that looked a little bit too intense for Kei’s tastes. Not that any cooking shows were in his taste, for that matter.

Kei went on his way, walking to the door and putting his shoes on. “Yeah, but you’re a big boy so I think you’ll be fine.”

Akiteru made a funny face and turned back to the television. “You’re really going outside all alone in Tokyo at this hour?”

“I haven’t been murdered so far,” Kei said, starting to feel a little irritated. “I’m going to Kuroo’s, I’ll probably be back before the last bus.”

He was out of the door before Akiteru could ask when the last bus was.

 

-

 

Kuroo opened the door before Kei could knock, clearing the way like a gentleman holding the door for their lover. Kei walked inside with an annoyed click of his tongue, and Kuroo grinned behind his back. “Were you coming here to do homework?” he asked when he noticed the schoolbag.

Kei dropped the bag on the floor and shrugged. “I guess not.”

Kuroo smirked as he led the way to his room. Kei followed him with a little exasperated nod, going around in Kuroo’s house like he would in his own. He’d been here a good number of times now and he didn’t feel like a guest anymore.

“I didn’t even take my shoes off,” Kei pointed out when he sat on the bed with Kuroo who was already laying on his back with a sly grin.

Tetsurou laughed, going to push on Kei’s shoes with his own feet. “How disrespectful, you’re awful.”

Kei took his shoes off with his hands, glancing at Kuroo and making sure he was looking at his face before he rolled his eyes.

“Am I pissing you off? Because I love your pissed off face. Please make your pissed off face.”

Kei tried to find some alternative to his signature pissed off face, to let Kuroo know he was annoyed without giving him what he wanted, but he also really wanted to laugh at that dumb request, so that’s what he did instead. “You’ll never get anything by asking like that,” Kei said as he lied down next to Kuroo. “Never insist that much, it just makes people want to give you exactly the opposite of what you’re asking for.”

“You’re _not_ giving me a class on begging,” Kuroo said with an unimpressed eyebrow raised up. Kei scoffed at Tetsurou’s expression of disgust, turning on his side to face him.

As if it had been a cue, Kuroo rolled on his side as well, leaving a sliver of empty space between the two of them. “Actually, you can teach me anything you like,” he said with a hidden meaning between his words that Kei was half hoping he was getting wrong.

“I don’t think there’s anything valuable I could teach you,” Kei replied, feeling a little self-conscious under these focused eyes and the closeness of their bodies.

“Mind if I take your glasses off?”

Kei’s eyes shot back up at the question, but they were soft and calm rather than confused, so Kuroo picked up the temples of the glasses with his fingers and slowly took them off, spontaneously smiling when Kei scrunched up his nose, probably trying to get his eyes to focus properly. It shouldn’t be too bad, he was nearsighted, and they were close enough to count each other’s eyelashes.

“Why’d you do that?” Kei asked, but it was nowhere near accusatory like Kuroo had expected. He sounded curious, maybe pleasantly confused at best.

Kuroo cast one last smile at Tsukki before he pressed his forehead to the other boy’s. “They get in the way,” he said as he fit his nose on the side of Kei’s own, kissing the side of his mouth and blinking scheming eyes close enough to Kei’s eyes for their eyelashes to touch.

Their eyelids fell down one more time, and they were kissing, all in messy lips and little laughs. He’d probably never say it directly, but Kei loved it when Kuroo treated him like he had a _fragile_ sticker taped to his forehead. Kuroo was kissing him like his lips were feathers, like he’d fly away in smoke if he pressed harder, and that was such a contrast with this morning. Tsukishima suddenly felt like his head was lighter, wrapping his arms around Tetsurou’s sides and hugging him close. Kei’s hands closed in fists around the fabric of Kuroo’s shirt, and that made something inside of Kuroo’s head snap, because the next second he was on top of Kei, both of his legs on either side of the blond’s pelvis and kissing him with the kind of intent that could become very dangerous.

Strangely enough, Kei felt no rush whatsoever, he was just getting what he’d been asking for. Tetsurou was the kind of person who couldn’t enjoy anything unless he knew that everyone involved was down with it. Tsukishima was finding new ways to let him know that it was fine without using words, because most of the time he wasn’t in a situation that allowed much talking.

Physicality was not something Kei craved, at least he didn’t use to. Of course, now that he had the opportunity to explore and broaden his horizons, he was thinking about it a lot more. Going from accepting your forever bachelor life to trying things out with guys should probably not happen this fast, but it didn’t feel wrong, so Kei was going with the flow of things.

The tide was bringing them to a dam that hadn’t been broken yet, though. They’d made out plenty of times, even got a little heated up on a couple of nights they’d slept over to one another’s places, but this was clearly heading somewhere further than that. Kuroo was confident in his movements, framing Kei with his arms underneath his back, daring to lift his pelvis up a little, heaving a little sigh at how that made him feel. Kei was so engrossed in the kissing that he didn’t find time to be staggered by where he was being touched. His mind still hadn’t caught on completely, so he was just enjoying it before he’d go into panic mode and build up his walls.

The thing was, he was acknowledging that this was normally what would happen, and it wasn’t happening. He was totally fine with it, completely aware of what was going on. And his body was also on board with it, apparently.

 **~** Kuroo laughed in the middle of a kiss, backing off a little to look at Tsukki with one of the most contented, amazed and loving gaze he’d ever received. “Can I…” he tried at first, rapidly opting against what he was going to say in his mind. “Fuck it, can I make you feel good?”

“That’s vague,” Tsukki replied, a naughty smile on his blissed out face that was almost enough to let Kuroo know that the answer was a thousand times yes.

Kuroo went straight for Kei’s neck after that, probably attempting to be more explicit. “Anything you want,” Tetsurou breathed against the warm skin before pressing a trail of kisses from Kei’s collarbones to his jawline.

“You know I’ve never done anything like that before,” Tsukishima reminded Kuroo, but he wasn’t closing himself off. He just wanted to make it clear that he had no idea what he was doing.

Visibly a little concerned, Kuroo left Kei’s neck to be able to look at him in the eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“Very,” Kei whispered before he raised his head up a little to kiss the underside of Kuroo’s jaw. “Do what you want, as long as it’s not dangerous.”

There was a mix between _burry me right here because I have died_ and _what do you mean dangerous what kind of shit do you think I’m into?_ in the expression on Kuroo’s face. In response to this, Kei had a small mocking laugh that was beyond adorable even though that hadn’t been the intended effect, so Kuroo claimed his lips right back. 

It was pretty mellow and slow until Tetsurou took an interest in getting rid of clothes, and then it became a mess. They both cracked up laughing when Kuroo attempted to take Tsukki’s shorts off on his own, pulling on one side at a time and making very limited progress for the amount of time he’d spent on the task. Kei took the rest of his pants off after Kuroo got off of him, consequently more nervous now that this step was done. Tetsurou didn’t straddle his lap again, instead he sat on his knees between Kei’s legs. Kei was holding his upper body up with his elbows and looking over every move Kuroo made, the anxious energy rising in him making him hyperaware.

Kuroo raised Kei’s shirt a little higher on his stomach, pressing a palm to his exposed skin so he’d lie back down. Once that was done, he fit both of his hands under the shirt and pushed it all the way up. Kei helped by raising his arms up, making the shirt come off much faster than the shorts.

After Kuroo discarded the shirt away, he went back to a frowning Tsukki who was very close to being naked, and if the situation hadn’t sunk in before, it had now. Kuroo sent Kei a wondering look, confused about the sour stare he was getting.

“What is it?”

The blond pinched his lips tight and closed his eyes in shame. “I just feel a little bit exposed, but I guess-“

“Do you want me to...” Kuroo started as he grabbed the hem of his shirt and got ready to yank it off.

Kei nodded, being careful not to seem too eager about it. With a smirk and a far from clueless laugh, Kuroo took his shirt off and dipped down do press a sweet kiss to Kei’s lips, then on his neck, and he went down like this, sending shivers everywhere on Tsukki’s skin. Kei was still mystified by the fact that Kuroo thought he was attractive, but if it made him spend this much time on his body, he wasn’t going to question it.

“Can we get under the covers?” Kei asked when his shivers got overwhelming.

Kuroo smirked against his skin, extending a hand to pull at the blanket and throwing it over them both. He did not seem to mind being in the dark.

“Fuck,” Tetsurou cursed before he pressed a kiss at the hollow at the bottom of Kei’s ribcage. “Do you have any idea how pretty you are?”

“Pretty?” Kei repeated, lifting an eyebrow up in false offense.

Kuroo laughed against his skin. “Like, model pretty. You’re just…”

He looked up and smirked at Kei’s face when he saw the dark red on the boy’s cheeks. “You don’t believe me?”

Kei shook his head no, so Kuroo went back up to kiss his lips tenderly, smiling against them. “Well, I’m not a liar,” he said when he broke the kiss, and there was something dark in the back of his voice that Kei liked a little too much.

It’s only when Kei lost sight of Kuroo again that he could say “You too, you’re-“, he bit his lower lip at the feeling of Kuroo’s hands wandering past his lower back, “you’re… all that, so much.”

“That didn’t make sense, love,” Kuroo jibed, punctuating his statement with a wet kiss just above Kei’s right hipbone.

Kei rushed both of his hands in his face to hide himself. “Well, that’s all you’re gonna get,” he threatened, his protest made weak when a scrap of teeth near the elastic band of his underwear made him gasp.

After a few more kisses and careful touches, Kuroo stopped playing around and grabbed Kei’s ass with two hands, squeezing lightly as he pushed up a little between Kei’s legs. They both closed their eyes and held their breaths, the sensation being a little intense after ignoring it for too long.

“I’m gonna take your underwear off now, okay?” Kuroo’s muffled voice made it sound like the most innocent request in the world.

“I’ll help you,” Kei offered, attempting to avoid a second undressing disaster. He lifted himself up by pushing with his feet and bending his knees and Kuroo grabbed the fabric at the back to slide the underwear off slowly, allowing Kei to lie back down progressively. With the blanket over them, Kei didn’t feel too embarrassed to be naked for a second time in Kuroo’s house, which was strange considering that he’d been completely alone and showering the first time it had happened.

There were now kisses at the top of his thighs, slowly drifting to the inside of his leg, just under his crotch. That was definitely a funny place to be kissed at, but it felt like a promise, like an appetizer before a five course meal. Obviously, it sent shivers spreading on every inch of Kei’s skin.

“Tsukki?” Came a pleading voice from under the blanket.

“Yeah?”

A silent pause let Kei know that Kuroo was probably embarrassed about what he was going to ask. “Can I blow you?”

 _Oh, God._ “I think that falls in the non-dangerous category, yes,” Kei said, trying to remain casual even though there was nothing typical and chill about what was happening. The blood in his body seemed to flow noticeably faster, making his heart beat increase and his face heat up dangerously. He could feel his furious pulse at the sole of his feet.

Kei felt the first touch like a fire was being lit inside of him, and he gasped when Kuroo’s hand wrapped around the base of his cock. Kei was already gone, but what really ended him was the warm blow of air that Kuroo huffed on the head of his dick just before he closed his lips around it. Instinctually, Kei gripped at the sheets, taking in a long, shocked inhale.

Kuroo kept his free hand at Kei’s hip, keeping him down as best as he could while he went down on him, using his hand to make up for what he couldn’t reach.

The way Kuroo was teasing him with his tongue had Kei making strange choked up sounds that seemed to please Kuroo. Kei kept pulling his lower lip in his mouth with his teeth, biting on it when he got overwhelmed by the sensations. It was probably all red and swollen now, but he couldn’t find it in him to care.

Tetsurou wasn’t trying to go too fast as it was Tsukki’s first time, so he went slow and steady, keeping the same rhythm throughout and adjusting to the little noises Kei made to make sure it felt good for him.

After a minute, Kuroo stopped, using his hand to make up for the loss of his mouth. “You can make noise, there’s no one home.”

“Sure, you’d like me to be screaming just as your mom comes home,” Kei answered with a little heath in his voice, having a hard time to keep his tone even. That was starting to wear him out a lot.

“That would be a nice story to tell later,” Kuroo joked just before he enwrapped Kei into his mouth again. Just as he was asked to, Kei was a little more vocal in his appreciation, heaving a very loud and completely blissed out sigh at the contact.

Kuroo giggled a little, and the vibrations sent an astonished moan out of Tsukki’s mouth that would’ve probably escaped him against his will even if Kuroo hadn’t told him he could make noise. That had just been too much to bear for his poor little body.

“How do you fucking do that?,” Kei asked in a moment of ecstasy induced confusion. Kuroo had to back away again, his breath coming short from trying not to laugh for too long.

“I said you could make noise, but I can’t answer if you talk to me, you know?”

Kei shivered so violently that he started shaking, coming close to begging for Kuroo to keep going. He didn’t need to say a word, though.

“Alright, alright, no more messing around, I got you,” Tetsurou whispered loud enough to be heard through the sheets, and it put every single cell of Kei’s body on high alert.

At the renewed touch of Kuroo’s lips, Kei knew this wasn’t going to last for long. He’d already gone way past his limits, enjoying the languish feeling he was getting from how much Kuroo cared.

At first, it felt like his lungs were shrinking and his stomach was clenching, so he gasped as he pulled on Kuroo’s head to get him away. With the suddenness and the strength of the pull, Kuroo followed along, taking his mouth off of Kei in a flash. He was probably worried that he wanted to stop it, after all.

Just as Kuroo was pushing the blanket away to see Kei and ask him if he was fine, he saw him arch his back and gasp in sharply as his eyes shot open and he came on his chest. “Holy shit,” Kuroo marvelled, staring at Kei’s body as he thanked all the Gods he could think of for allowing him to see this.

Tsukishima calmed down at the same rhythm that his breathing slowed up. Tetsurou knew too well that this was probably the most wrecked he’d ever been in his life. He was gorgeous like that, he always was.

Kuroo crawled slowly over him, staring into his eyes with the most focus he’d ever had. Surprisingly, Kei reached out first, pulling Kuroo down by the neck and planting an open-mouthed kiss on his lips. Kuroo crossed his arms behind Kei’s back, pressing their bodies together at every meeting point possible. Kei shuddered like he caught a chill, but he was hot all over, burning up deep into his flesh and blood.

Both of Kei’s hand pressed flat against Kuroo’s stomach, his palms barely touching the boy’s jeans. His hands dropped to the button and the zipper, undoing both as fast as he could while Kuroo devoured his mouth like he’d never learned how to kiss properly. It was kind of charming, actually.

“Wait, Tsukki, stop,” Kuroo mumbled with his lips still pressed to Kei’s, “you don’t have to do that, I don’t mind-“

“I want to do it,” Kei growled back, and Kuroo looked like that shut him up because he pushed himself up on his knees to make the hurried undressing a little easier.

Tsukishima acted like every inhibition had completely left him, throwing a hand into Kuroo’s underwear and moving slowly as he bit his lips. Kuroo’s mouth dropped open, and there was no way he’d be able to close it now. His breath was coming short and the hand that was keeping his body up over Tsukki closed in a fist around the fitted sheet. “Shit, you’re-,“ Kei moved his hand faster, looking into Kuroo’s eyes and nowhere else, “you’re so fucking hot.”

“Thanks very much,” Kuroo achieved to say while he threw his head back, leaving Kei’s eyes who now had to stare at Kuroo’s elongated neck. Tentatively, he kissed near Kuroo’s jaw and felt a pulse against his lips, so he darted out his tongue, tasting salty skin over a frantic heartbeat. They were now almost sitting up, but they were still leaning down too much for that. It was almost like they tried to decide between sitting and lying down and that they couldn’t agree so they had to settle for something in the middle.

Kei twisted his hand around Kuroo’s dick as he moved it up. A choked up humming answered him, and Tsukki smirked at the sound. Kuroo snorted at how satisfied with himself Kei looked.

After a couple more strokes, Tetsurou’s hand gripped at the sheets even tighter. “Oh God Kei, oh my God yes…”

Kuroo came over Kei’s chest as well and it was way too much to see him like that. The pure boy who freaked out right after they kissed for the first time, flushed, naked and in dire need of a shower. But it was fine now, they were fine.

Tetsurou wasn’t much better off anyway after hugging Kei as tight as they could like a couple separating at the airport. As he gasped in Kei’s mouth, Kuroo came down from the high and slumped down on the mattress next to him. Kei had a soft chuckle. **~**

“I told my brother I was going to be home before the last bus, but now I think I need a shower,” he said as he kept giggling nervously.

Kuroo laughed with his face crammed inside a pillow, a strange glee mixing with his general weariness. He had to turn his head on the side to speak clearly. “You can sleep here if you want, I’ll tell my mom not to wake us up tomorrow when she comes home.”

“Alright, but I’m still gross and you just made your bed dirty when we’d managed not to,” Kei said with a judgemental hint in his words.

Kuroo sighed happily. “I guess I just couldn’t give a fuck.”

Kei smiled back at him with a dopey look on his face that Kuroo quietly wished he would see many more times. The tissue box was within his reach, so Kuroo grabbed it and took a couple of them out of the box to clean Tsukki. He then threw them toward the trashcan, but he was pretty sure none of the tissues made it. “C’mere,” he told Kei after he rolled onto his back.

“I guess we’ll both need a shower anyway,” the blond said as he crawled underneath Kuroo’s arm with a happy little smile. “Where have you put my pants, I need to tell my brother I’m not coming back and my phone is in the pockets. He’ll call the police and create a rescue party if I don’t.”

Kuroo had a mean little laugh at that. “They’re probably on the floor just next to the bed.”

Kei detached himself from Kuroo and grabbed his shorts from the floor, taking his phone from one of the back pockets and writing a short message before he put the device down on the bed side table.

When he had Kuroo’s arm back around his shoulders, he took a deep breath and stared into the boy’s eyes. It was even more intense in the dim light of the bedroom. "I've thought about it," he said before he marked a little pause, "and I think I was afraid that I’d lose myself if I got invested into something like a relationship. Obviously, that was just fear, because I can still clearly be myself while I’m with someone else, I don’t think I need you to live. But I won't let this opportunity to be happy and build something with someone I care about go just because I want to keep up appearances. I don't want to stay the same just because that's what's expected of me at this point."

Kei had a weak smile, but the weight his words held was very visible in the way the water in his eyes shone in the low bedroom light. "I'm not going to act like I don't want to be with you just because I want to remain emotionless in front of others. That's just not what I want."

Tetsurou looked like he was about to turn as white as snow, which was not the response Kei had expected. The older boy looked down at the sheets around their bodies. An anxious twist of his hand let Kei know that something was wrong, so he grabbed both of Kuroo's hands to let him know that it was all fine.

"You'd be my first boyfriend," Kuroo mumbled after a while, and Kei's eyes shot open wide. There was a strangely comforting silence between them after this, even though Kei was still trying to make sense of what he'd just heard. Tetsurou had made it pretty clear that he'd been involved with other people before him.

"When I was your age, I used to think it was fine to just be a thing for other people," Kuroo continued, his voice shakier with each words he said. "Every weekend, I'd go to a club and be picked up by about anybody, and they didn't care about my wellbeing so much."

Kei was feeling every word that Tetsurou said like a stab at his heart from how much hurt there was in them. A single tear fell from Kuroo's left eye, rolling down the bridge of his nose and falling on the pillow. "I started doing it to other guys, I thought it was just how things worked. If you wanted to feel a little alive, you had to endure a lot of shit and give other people even more shit."

Kuroo had to take a break and breathe properly. Kei squeezed his hands a little tighter to let him know that he was still there, still with him at a 100%. "I know it's not healthy, but it was all I had. It was eat or be eaten, and I thought there was nothing wrong about it until it started feeling wrong and disgusting to hit on someone just to know you could get it if you wanted."

Kei's was trying to hold his own tears at this point, the realisation that came with Kuroo's confession hitting him like a ton of bricks. "I just... it was supposed to be fun and it wasn't! I was trying to be young - I couldn't... I never loved anyone. Nobody ever loved me. They couldn't, they just wanted to throw me away, or I was the one to do that to them."

Kuroo finally looked up at Tsukki, and he tried his best to appear strong in front of him, but he was as transparent as glass. "It felt unnatural and wrong. But, being with you, that's the only thing that's ever felt natural to me. Being with you is the realest thing."

Kei practically launched himself at Tetsurou, seizing his body and holding him with abandon. Kuroo was weeping against Kei's shoulder, hugging back with the same strength, fueled by the despair of a past life.

"You're worth so much more than this," Kei said with conviction, raising his hands up to Kuroo's shoulders and pulling him flush against his body. "You're worth so much more than a quick fuck, you're worth everything."

Kei could feel Tetsurou smiling against his cheek even though he was still sniffing. "You're too good for me."

It hadn't been said depreciatingly, but Kei still backed off to look Kuroo in the eyes and say "I really am not."

"You, Tsukishima Kei, are too good for me, end of statement," Kuroo insisted, and his good natured humor was there even though there was still wetness on his cheeks and his eyes were still red. He cupped Kei's face between his hands and pressed a light kiss to the blond's lips.

It was sweet and filled with devotion, filling Kei's skin with goosebumps and warming the inside of Kuroo's stomach. The simple kiss turned into a more passionate, claiming one, and all the raw emotion that was motivating them rushed through their brains like a particularly strong drug would. It left them dopey and clingy, kissing leisurely until they got too tired to keep going.

"Can I call you babe now?" Kuroo asked spontaneously, obviously acting on a sudden thought.

Kei shook the sleep off and frowned at him. "Don't even think about it," he said menacingly.

"Okay, good night babe."

Tsukishima grunted in annoyance, hurling his face into his pillow. With his voice in an undertone, he said "I'm breaking up with you."

"Sure you are," Kuroo teased with a naughty smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a confession to make  
> I was listening to Ariana's new album the entire time I was writing this chapter  
> I think it shows  
> So thank you Ariana Grande may you be blessed
> 
> I have wrote the equivalent of 4 chapters in the time it normally takes me to write 2 and I was working full time..... I did not get a lot of sleep as of late.
> 
> I hope anyone who needed the nsfw reminders were happy with the placement of the little wiggly things
> 
> Next chapter is called "Rendez-vous Au Clair de Lune" tbh that sounds so cheesy lmao
> 
> tumblr is [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/)
> 
> give me your thoughts about the chapters! I have a feeling it's going to be good ;)


	21. Rendez-vous au Clair de Lune

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo that took two weeks. Wow. Work is veeeeeery time-taxing, much more than I would've thought. I had planned to finish this story on my birthday (July 3rd). I guess that won't be possible.
> 
> It’s seriously crazy that we’re already past chapter 20 and getting into the last part of the story. I’ve honestly never finished a fic in my life (I know, shame on me) so I’m very proud of almost being done with this one! I have three other projects to get to after this (not for KuroTsuki but I do have a wip started for them) so you have not seen the last of me!
> 
> Enjoy :)

"This is the first time in a year that I've touched anyone like this."

That was the first think Kuroo said when he stopped moving in bed after he came back from leaving his mother a note that said “Tsukishima is sleeping here, please don’t come in my room”, which Kei thought was a little transparent, but oh well. They’d been ready for sleep, and then Kuroo suddenly remembered how nosy his mother was. The blond turned his head slightly to the left to look at his boyfriend of a couple minutes.

"Really?" He asked in a whisper.

"Yeah."

Kei rolled on his side, forcing Kuroo to lift his arm up so he could cuddle up to him. "I'm so sorry, you asked for my consent and I didn't even ask you..."

"I was very much consenting, don't worry," Tetsurou answered with an audible smile.

"Good."

Kuroo smiled back in answer to Kei’s own happy little smirk. An idea suddenly crossed his mind, and the realisation was visible in his eyes. "Hey, I just realised we did this all in the wrong order."

"What do you mean?"

Tetsurou bit the inside of his cheek nervously before he answered. "Well, people normally go on dates before they talk about their feelings and have sex."

"We didn't have sex,” Kei said almost instantly, like he was offended. He wasn’t, it was just sort of intense for him to call it that so fast. He didn’t want it to mean so much to him, but he associated some kind of innocence with virginity, no matter how conceptual and unreal it was.

"Some people consider this sex,” Kuroo explained sheepishly.

Kei pouted while he rubbed his cheek on Kuroo’s chest. "Well not me."

"Whatever,” Kuroo laughed, “we still never went on a single date."

“Of course we did,” Kei said just like he was about to make a very bad joke. “We went for tea that one time.”

Kuroo smiled at the fond memory. “Seaweed?”

Kei snorted. “Seaweed,” he repeated, hugging Kuroo closer. “Did that count as a date?”

“I don’t know, I don’t think so,” Tetsurou pondered, looking thoughtful. “I didn’t mean it to be a date, I just wanted to…”

“...take me on a date,” Kei completed with a proud little smirk. “Didn’t you say that dates came before dumb feeling stuff anyway?”

Kuroo had a disgruntled huff. “ _Dumb feeling stuff_ ,” he said grumpily, even though he clearly thought it was funny.  

Kei sighed, deciding to cut to the chase. "Do you want to go on a date?"

If the sudden shortness of breath was any clue, that had taken Kuroo by surprise. "Are you asking me on a date?"

"I'm asking you if you're asking me on a date,” Kei said, trying to remain patient.

"I don't know. Do you want to go on a date with me?"

Kei giggled a little in a way that wasn’t as mean as he had meant to. That was unfair, adorably unfair. "Where?"

"I don't know,” Tetsurou said as he shrugged, which made Kei’s head shake a little, “we could go out for dinner. Do you like dinner?"

Kei was still trying to stop laughing from being shaken around by an awkward Kuroo. "No, I hate it. Actually, I never eat, I get all my calorie intake from the air that I breathe."

"You dumbass,” marvelled Tetsurou.

When they finally agreed on Sunday night, Tsukishima was surprised to be looking forward to it. He’d have to get used to this pretty soon, it was happening more and more often now.

 

-

 

 

Having hope was easy. People can trust other people pretty easily, that’s a known fact. Treason wouldn’t exist if that weren’t true. You see someone that you deem trustworthy, and even when they disappoint you, you don’t give up on them. That’s important, it’s forgiveness, goodness of heart and other crap like that. It’s taking your bad feelings and turning them into something worthwhile that’s going to help someone else. Crying while you’re curled up in a ball had never done any good for anyone, neither did yelling at them until they’re scared of your outbursts forever. But taking a chance and giving it another shot, that had better odds.

Kenma was not the forgiving type, he really wasn’t. Usually, he was able to detach from his feelings and enter a bubble of apathetic energy, but that wasn’t possible with Hinata. Kenma was an uncaring young man in appearance, but he was actually living at war with most of his thoughts, trying to make sense of it all without coming off as someone who tries too hard, someone who wants to be something very precise. He was nothing definite, and that was fine, until he started feeling like he had to be something for Hinata.  

“You’re so cool,” the boy said one day while he was laying on his stomach on top of Kenma’s bed. “Like, honestly you’re probably the coolest person I know.”

“Why do you say that?” Kenma asked with a front of curiosity, but he was really questioning Hinata on what was _wrong_ with him to even think that.

Hinata laughed like he’d just heard a great joke. “Why _wouldn’t_ I, you mean? It’s so calm being with you, you kinda feel like a safe place, you know? And your house is great. You have all the games and all the consoles, that’s cool as shit. Your hair is cool. Your clothes are cool. Your face is cool. You’re cool.”

Hinata was often acting like a rambling idiot or a robot with a broken speech mechanism, but when he said things like that, Kenma had to go past that. He had to take it in, not overthink it and keep in mind that he was talking with Hinata. “Thank you, I guess.”

“Welllllcome,” Hinata said, dragging on the sound and separating the two syllables strangely. “I’m sad that I have to go back tomorrow. Are you gonna be able to come back to Miyagi soon?”

Kenma had not meant to glare, but his short panic made him turn to Hinata in horror. He wasn’t angry anymore, but the sudden mention of this place made him react in a way that could lead to believe that he still was. Hinata jumped to his feet, and since he was laying down on a bed seconds before, it was very alarming.

“Oh God, I’m sorry, do you not want to? I totally understand, totally. I can’t make you forgive me just by coming over here, I’m such an asshole, oh my God-“

“Shouyou,” Kenma voiced louder than he had meant to. Hinata physically mimed zipping his lips, and that was absolutely adorable. “You’re not an asshole in any way conceivable, please don’t say that.”

Hinata nodded brutally. Kenma sighed and looked down, unable to sustain eye contact with Hinata’s eager little face.

“I’ve forgiven you long ago, I just, I guess…”

Hinata kneeled on the mattress and crawled clower to Kenma. “I know, it’s gonna be weird, but I don’t want you to associate my hometown with… hating me…”

There was a mix of fondness and confusion rising in Kenma, and lord did he have no idea what to do about that. “I – no, Shouyou, no. I never hated you, I never could, I mean…” Kenma gulped down, staring just over Shouyou’s shoulder like he was seeing a ghost. “I couldn’t possibly ever hate you, is what I mean.” 

Hinata’s eyes were shining with a little too much water and _absolute amazement_. “Kenmaaaaa!”

“What, what did I say?” Kenma said like an innocent and frightened bystander.

Shouyou grinned at him, walking on his knees closer to Kenma. “I think I know what you mean.”

Kenma side-eyed Hinata, feeling a little doubtful about the boy’s implications. “Do… you?”

“Think so, yeah.” Hinata looked up and. _Oh_. He was close. Kenma had spent the last 30 seconds freaking out instead of taking notice of what was happening in front of him, but now he was freaking out about exactly that.

Hinata stalled when he noticed the way Kenma was looking at him. His sad puppy face brought Kenma back from _freak out land_. “I have no idea what I’m doing,” Kenma admitted, looking up into Hinata’s eyes to make him feel safe. He knew the poor boy was calculating every move he was making to stay on Kenma’s good side. “I don’t want you to be afraid of me, I’m a fuck up who doesn’t know how to talk to people, you shouldn’t act like you’re scared of letting me down.”

Hinata shook his head severely. “And they say I’m the dumb one,” he said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. “Kenma, this isn’t a contest, we’re not talking about which one of us is the worst, okay?”

Kenma tilted his head on the side and frowned. “Are you… saying that we’re both horrible?”

“I’m telling you that you shouldn’t be tearing yourself down,” Hinata replied with this sweet honesty of his, unguarded but thoughtful. “I don’t have words for this, I’m not very good at explaining anything, so I really should not be the one to tell you this, but you should never be sorry for being who you are, and you’re not a fuck up, nobody thinks that, you’re just quiet, and honestly, more people should be quiet-“

“Shouyou, I just meant I didn’t know how to deal with you and I don’t know why you’re dealing with me.”

There was a resignation in Kenma’s voice that made Hinata gasp and keep the air into his lungs, refusing to let it out. “Shouyou, don’t worry, I’m not-“

“You are the most bestest guy I’ve ever met, dealing with you is a privilege,” Hinata said, leaving no place for arguments. Kenma had a shy smile, which was getting strangely usual for him.

Hinata was still on his knees, close to Kenma’s side, and his eyes went down on his face and his neck. Feeling observed, Kenma looked up only to see Hinata’s eyes focused on his lips. Without really thinking, Kenma shifted his weight by putting a hand on the bed and moving closer to Hinata, because if he’d been thinking, he would’ve moved away. He just wanted to get closer, and the fact that he knew that this wasn’t something typical of him only made him want to do it more.

Hinata’s the one who closed the space between them, softly, albeit a little tentatively. Kenma froze, but it wasn’t because of anything negative. His stomach was slowly being filled with a numbing panic, but a warmer kind that he’d never experienced before. It felt like he had a heart on either side of his chest and that they had both stopped working and were trying to get out by expanding against his skin.

When Hinata backed off with a sharp breath, all that pressure in his rib cage fell down to his stomach. “Sorry, I didn’t ask, I-“

Kenma clenched a gentle hand against the fabric of Hinata’s shirt, just above his shoulder, pressing his lips onto Shouyou’s to shut him up. He didn’t make any startled noise, like he’d been expecting this to happen. They were very silent, barely touching as they kissed with this eerie energy surrounding them. For longing seconds, their lips moved together easily, even though neither of them had done this before. It was perfect the way it was, even with the inexperience and the suddenness of it all.

 

-

 

Kei was up and out the door before Kuroo’s mother could wake up. They weren’t trying to hide anything from her, but they didn’t want to involve mothers and other prying eyes into their relationship so soon. Plus, thinking about telling Kuroo’s mother only reminded him that he had to tell his own mom. Akiteru made him swear he would.

Speaking of the devil, Kei’s brother was sitting at the dinner table when he walked inside his apartment. He’d been eating cereals, but now he wasn’t doing anything else than smiling knowingly as he stared at his bowl, face down. Kei had been too tired and content on the way home to dread the moment he’d see Akiteru again.

Kei didn’t say anything while he unpacked his school bag and took his shoes off. It was already embarrassing enough to be stared at like that, he didn’t need to give some clumsy excuses that would just give him away and confirm what Akiteru was thinking.

Kei walked past his brother when he headed for his bedroom, keeping his head down. It’s only when he got to the door that he remembered something else that he swore he would do if there was anything new to mention. Kei went back on his footsteps and pulled a chair out to sit at the table with his brother.

“Oh, good morning, Casanova,” Akiteru said as he smirked, way too proud of himself for no damn reason.

“Funny,” Kei replied with an expression that probably made this the most sarcastic use of this word in the history of mankind. “I’ve decided to be nice with you and feed your curiosity before you use my silence against me.”

Akiteru crossed his arms in front on his chest and grinned. “That’s a smart thing to do.”

“So,” Kei started, keeping his facial expression calm and collected, “yesterday I didn’t come home.”

“I noticed,” Akiteru said before he huffed a short laugh.

“Kuroo and I had a nice, long talk, and I guess…”

Akiteru put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “And what?”

Kei backed off in his chair on reflex. “You’re way too eager to know, it troubles me.”

“Hey, you’re the one who wanted to share, so shoot,” Akiteru insisted, trying to be serious about it all.

Kei sighed strongly before he spoke again. “Well,” he said, remarkably slowly, which only made Akiteru even more impatient. “I guess we’re official now. We’re, uh, together.”

The noise that came out of Akiteru’s throat was dangerously close to a squeal, and the way he clapped his hands a couple of times made him look like an excited young girl. “Really! That’s great! Is it like kid’s dating or you’ve said the big words?”

It took Kei a short moment to understand what Akiteru meant by that. “Come on, don’t get ahead of us,” Kei answered with this _end of discussion_ voice of him. What did “kid’s dating” mean anyway? It wasn’t real dating until the fatal words had been pronounced? _Please_.

“I think you’ve gotten pretty ahead or yourselves without my help, if those marks on your neck can be my witnesses.”

Kei didn’t even have the time to feel embarrassed or voice a stupid “Oh no!” before he took the decision that he would murder Kuroo the next time he’d see him. He stood up and walked to the bathroom in a hurry to check for the extent of damage. Akiteru stayed weirdly quiet in the background, keeping a locked gaze on his little brother. In the mirror, Kei’s neck looked absolutely normal, there were no bruises anywhere, and it dawned on him that he’d just been tricked. He’d just indirectly admitted what he hadn’t meant to at all.

“He went to check!” Akiteru weazed from the kitchen, obviously rejoiced by Kei’s reaction.

“Stop being gross, Aki!” Kei yelled back, making a 100% sure that there weren’t any marks anywhere. “It’s honestly pretty vile of you to do this to me, you didn’t need to know that.”

“Don’t talk to me about vile, Kei,” Akiteru said before he laughed some more. “Go to bed, I bet you need it.”

“Seriously,” Kei mumbled as he walked from the bathroom to his bedroom, “fuck off.”

He slammed the door and took a deep breath once he was alone, sitting on his bed like a drunk coming home from a night out. That had been a low blow. He clearly hadn’t wanted to share that part, no matter what his brother had assumed, and no matter what he considered he had the right to know. Plus, putting it back on his nose like he’d ever do the same thing to anyone was just plain disgusting. Kei would never do that.

Akiteru’s advice wasn’t so bad though, because he was so tired that his eyelids were burning from the exhaustion. Going to sleep late after a long talk full of laughs and tears and waking up before 6 am wasn’t doing nice things to him.

He didn’t know if he’d be able to sleep while he was still mad, but there was no point in staying up. He took off his clothes to throw them in the laundry basket before hopping into bed. When he dragged the comforter toward him, his eyes caught shades of the many dark red and purple bruises that were colouring his inner thighs.

 

-

 

Two guys going out for dinner didn’t seem to be shocking for anyone. Then again, Kei thought that it would’ve probably been another story if they’d came in the restaurant holding hands. It was a shame, really. They looked rather cute while holding hands.

Their table was in a discreet corner of the restaurant, but that didn’t seem like a good enough reason to push their luck. After all, the waitress was kind of extra, checking in every 5 minutes to know if everything was okay and if they wanted water. It was a nice dinner, subtle and sweet in every way a date has to be when you’re already together and you don’t need to get ready to run away at any given moment if your date turns out to be a creep.

When they walked out of the restaurant, Kuroo mentioned an act two. He had taken his mother’s car for the evening, and at first Kei hadn’t understood why until Kuroo took him outside of the city where you could see the stars and there wasn’t a soul around. He drove into the trails of an unassuming forest that lead to a clearing. The grass was tall and the plants were aggressive and sticking to your clothes, but after they’d all been flattened and a blanket had been laid down over them, it was alright.

It looked stupid, it was stupid, but God was Kei happy to be there. It was so simple and nice, but it was also something he never thought he’d have in his life. Kuroo was giving him unexpected everyday by just staying in his life.

 

-

 

They’d been laying down under the stars for at least two hours now and Kuroo was happy to be retelling some old volleyball stories, like that time in their first year when Bokuto had caught the flu and simply refused to stay home and miss a practice. The team, Kuroo included, had had to physically hold him back while they waited for Akaashi to pick him up. According to Kuroo, there was a fire in Bokuto’s eyes, lightened up by a fever induced confusion. When Akaashi had finally showed up, Bokuto gave up and crawled to him, which was, apparently, “the saddest thing human eyes had ever seen, _ever_ ”.

“And I’m not kidding you, the guy launched himself at Akaashi like his savior had just arrived and we were standing there like a bunch of panting idiots. Akaashi sent us the death glare, which I had never seen before and never have again, thank God. But anyway, I’m about to run for my life, Ena’s crying, my team is down, the coach is going mad, Akaashi’s about to kill us all for not taking Bokuto home… it was a mess, a mess I tell you. Then, Akaashi takes the dying man to his place, makes him soup and stuff, he’s doing everything we were too overwhelmed to do. I mean, you got a dude that’s 180 pounds of muscle wrestling you while he’s barely capable of adding up 2 and 2, your first thought isn’t “ _I gotta make him soup”_. I’ve heard that he woke up around midnight, all angry at Akaashi for making him miss a practice.”

“And what was the coach doing?” Kei asked, feeling like there was an interesting part of the story that was being left out.

Kuroo had a fond smile at the memory. “Well, you know how Bokuto is coach’s favorite, he’s like the son he’s never had. That poor man had his mind set on calling an ambulance and he was yelling at us to go get glasses of water and mats from the gymnastics storage room. He looked like a wife who’s waiting to know if her husband made it.”

Kie scoffed while he pictured the scene. “Come to think of it, I never met Akaashi.”

“Hang out with Bokuto for 5 minutes and you’ll meet him,” Kuroo replied with a slight tilt of his head and a barely-there smirk.

“Why, are they always together?”

“No, Akaashi lives at the other side of the city, they only see each other once in a while. Bokuto’s always talking about him though, he’ll tell you everything you need to know, even if you don’t ask for it,” Kuroo finished in a sombre voice, like he was just telling a ghost story.

Kei looked away from the stars to stare at Kuroo’s face. From the side, with the light of the moon illuminating his eyes and the soft lines of his face, he looked like a stargazing child.

Kuroo smiled a little tightly from being observed like that. He kept his eyes on the sky, allowing Kei to bask at whatever he was watching so ardently. Kei rolled on the side, reaching out to gently run his fingers through Kuroo’s hair, right behind the boy’s ear. Kuroo leaned into the touch, letting his head roll to the side a little and closing his eyes.

“I like it when you do that,” he said, a content smile on his face growing by the second.

“Yeah?” Kei asked, slowly making a path for his fingers in the mess of hair that was on Tetsurou’s head.

“Yeah,” the latter replied, tilting his chin up to move his head against Kei’s hand. “My mom does this when I’m having a panic attack, it’s calming.”

Kei smiled softly, lightly scratching Kuroo’s scalp in an affectionate way. Keeping his hand into the hair, Kei propped himself up on his elbow and leaned in for a short kiss that left Kuroo with a dopey smile on his face when they parted.

“I also love when you do that,” Kuroo whispered, reaching out a hand to cradle Kei’s face.

Tsukki closed his eyes calmly at the contact. “I hope your mom doesn’t also do that.”

Kuroo’s hand fell off from Kei’s cheek instantly. “Ew, babe,” he exclaimed, obviously getting some strange mental images.

Kei laughed and laid his head down on Kuroo’s chest, just underneath his neck.

“Would you like me to make incestuous jokes at your expense? This is not funny, young man.”

Kei had another mocking laugh at Kuroo’s seriousness. “My brother’s already gross enough, no thanks.”

Kuroo had a silly laugh, remembering what Kei had told him about what had happened when they called each other on the day of the incident. They fell into a comfortable silence, watching the sky above them, cuddled up on the blanket like teenagers falling in love. Maybe that’s exactly what they were.

Kei was happy to be able to do something like this without the risk of anyone seeing them. Kuroo had had a very good idea to bring Tsukki there.

“Are you cold?” Kuroo asked with care as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend.

Kei snuggled up closer. “No, this is perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *dances awkwardly*
> 
> how u like me now
> 
> ps. I know Akiteru is like so rude, he'll apologize for that later
> 
> I've been watching romantic movies to get in the mood so WHAT'S UP.
> 
> I will try sos os sos sosos so hard to get the next chapters out faster than this one. I have been working 36 hours a week, plus babysitting, plus taking care of my sister who's sick, plus going out of town for a university entrance exam. I am tired.
> 
> I am also gonna be 20 years old very soon and I Don't Know How I Feel About That™
> 
> Anywho, please leave comments and kudos if you want to, they make my heart bloom like a beautiful rose. 
> 
> Next chapter is going to be called "First Everything"
> 
> See you soon ya filthy animals


	22. First Everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *giggles like a schoolgirl*

Every time he woke up, whether it was the middle of the night or morning, he always felt horribly bad, like he’d been thrown on earth from the worst level of hell. He normally came back to himself shaken up and confused, reaching for the closest thing to ground himself. He’d once sent the entire content of his bedside table crashing on the floor at two am, which startled the entire house and made him look like an idiot. He simply wasn’t capable of thinking when he came back from his slumber, there was just this awful feeling looming over him that made him clumsy. Whatever it was, it had never kept him from sleeping, but it always made him feel like he’d slept for nothing. When he was finally able to wake up without freaking out, he usually felt exhausted already.

Most people don’t want to be spoken to in the morning, but having someone wake Kei up with a forehead kiss and a _Good morning, fuckface_ helped him get back to reality faster. Kuroo continuously had to wake up early, for school, for practice, to join his mom at the market because “she has no damn concept of bargaining and if I don’t help her she’ll put us on the streets”. He always woke Tsukki up, speaking calmly to him for some minutes before he left for a couple hours, which Kei mostly spent sleeping until Kuroo would be back. It was strange, going to sleep at night and looking forward to being woken up at 6 am, but then again, it was the first time in years that Kei woke up with a smile on his face most of the time.

Kuroo knew that something was up with Kei, it would’ve been hard not to, but since he was seeing progress, he wasn’t bringing it up. His lack of motivation, the self-loathing and the random tears were hard to miss, but he wasn’t about to put a name on it. Most of the time, when he went to Tsukki’s apartment, he did the dishes and dusted the furniture to take a little bit of worry off of his shoulders. It was small, but he’d feel so bad if he didn’t do anything.

They talked about stress and anxiety a couple of times together, but Kuroo had yet to bring out bigger stuff. Words could be scary, and scaring Kei was the last thing he wanted to do. It seemed to be getting a little better since he’d gone back home for a while, and that was making him happy as much as it was making him sad. They still had no idea of how Kei’s mom would react to them dating and if the love of a mother can fix anything, losing it can ruin everything.

 

-

 

At noon, Kei started to get ready for work, preparing a little something to eat while he checked his phone for missed messages. After a couple days of nothing, there were some texts from his brother which he did not wish to open at first. The bruises on his thighs were just starting to heal and every time he looked at them he thought of his brother and his dumb prank. It was honestly pretty disastrous.

He clicked on the notification to open the window anyway since he wasn’t in the mood for ignoring people. He stared in the void for a moment, getting ready for whatever nonsense he was going to read, as if that was possible. There was a resilience in him now, so his eyes went back to the message.

 

**[12:02] Akiteru**

Listen I know you’re still mad, I’ll take notice next time, you delicate flower

**[12:02]**

But please know that you’re the only embarrassed one

**[12:02]**

You’re still my innocent baby brother to me, if that helps you with anything that’s going on in your head right now

 

Kei had to laugh, he had to. Man, that was ridiculous. His dumb, clumsy brother was trying to find a way to apologize for something that he didn’t think there was anything wrong with.

 

**[12:05] Kei**

You understand why I was mad tho right?

**[12:05]**

I’m not asking you to picture me as your sweet little brother

**[12:06]**

I’m just asking you to respect my privacy which really should not be something that I have to ask you

 

He finished getting his dinner ready and had the time to eat it before Akiteru wrote back to him. He was a little nervous to read the texts, hoping that they wouldn’t be the start of some stupid fight. Akiteru’s biggest talent was being infuriating in text format.

 

**[12:18] Akiteru**

Nah yeah I understand that

**[12:19]**

And I’m really sorry that I made you feel this way I’ll seriously think twice in the future

**[12:19] Kei**

Who are you?

**[12:20] Akiteru**

You’re so funny I pissed myself

 

Kei had a chuckle and a disapproving nod at his brother’s answer, putting the phone away in his pocket before he left for the bus stop. So, that was done with, no matter what that had been. Kei felt a little lighter, a little less guilty, and that was good.

 

-

 

When one of his regular customers walked in the store, Kei knew he would need help. He always acted like he never came there, but Kei saw him at least once a week. After he helped him pick his ten pictures, always in the one-hour service, the man followed him to the desk and took his copy of his receipt with a gentle nod.

“I’ll go sit on the bench outside, this won’t take a complete hour will it?”

Kei wasn’t supposed to do this, but he told the man that it was fine if he showed up before the time was over. After all, 10 pictures took about 5 minutes to print, he wasn’t going to lie to this poor man. “You can come back sooner, it’s okay,” Kei said with a shrug.

The man left with a short wave and sat on the bench just next to the store, which was both sad and adorable. He seemed content just looking at the passersby and enjoying the warm day for 15 minutes.

Kei’s phone chimed from where he had left him next to the computer. He picked it up after he launched his customer’s order and saw that he got a text from Kuroo.

 

**[12:37] Kuroo**

I’m on my death bed

 

That was one intriguing text. Kei chuckled as he turned the device on the side to type better.

 

**[12:38] Kei**

I’ll talk at your funeral

**[12:38] Kuroo**

I’m gonna fail Tsukki :(

**[12:38] Kei**

Yeah you always say that and you never fail

**[12:39]**

Come over here to study and I’ll try to reassure you so you stop freaking out

**[12:39] Kuroo**

Really? You sure I won’t bother you?

**[12:39] Kei**

You already do all the time so I don’t see why it would be an issue now

**[12:40] Kuroo**

Very funny

**[12:41]**

I’ll be here in 10

 

Kei didn’t bother to respond, but he was strangely glad that Kuroo was coming over. Since they were seeing each other every day now, there wasn’t much need for the usual visit down at the photo place, and Kei kind of missed the simplicity of it. It reminded him of all that had happened between them because they met at this place and all the personal development it had allowed as well. Most of the time, the lab was just a boring workplace, but sometimes it was way more than this. It was the start, and that was very sappy, but it was nice to think about.

The old man walked back in the shop 10 minutes later, so Kei took his envelope from the counter and got the total ready on the register. The man was still paying when Kuroo walked in, slowing down when he noticed there was someone else there.

The costumer paid, but when he got handed his change back, he shook his head. “No, keep it, you helped me a lot today.”

1000 yen. Kei looked down at it and opened his mouth to protest, but the old man was already walking away. “You keep it!” he insisted, louder this time.

Kuroo had this impressed but amused look on his face and Kei was already making up an excuse in his head. When the door closed behind the old man, he said: “I need the money.”

Kuroo had a little scoff that spelled out _bullshit_ in bold letters. “You can say you were so nice to this man just so you might get a tip, but I’m not buying it.”

Kei shot him a look that asked him what he was trying to prove and it made Kuroo laugh. “I can be nice and greedy all at once.”

“You can be anything you want,” Kuroo replied proudly, his fond gaze being way too much for Kei to stand longer than a few seconds.

“So, what are you stuck on?” the blond asked after he looked away for a beat.

Kuroo smiled brightly, aware of Kei’s every little move. It’s like he learned a thousand things just by looking at him carefully. “Same thing as last time.”

Just when Kei frowned and was about to scold him, Kuroo interrupted him. “I know, I know, but I need to be perfect at it and I’m far from that.”

“Pff,” Kei protested, walking closer to the counter and dragging Kuroo’s schoolbag toward him to look inside of it. “They’re gonna tell you you’re exceeding their expectations again.”

“We can never be too sure, Tsuks,” Kuroo replied with a dumb wink which had Tsukishima making an unimpressed face.

“You know you’re a handful?” Kei asked playfully, going through the pages of Kuroo’s physics book.

Kuroo scoffed before he stole the book from his boyfriend. “That’s why you got two hands.”

Tsukki nodded as he walked to the counter and sat on it. “I was put on this planet to deal with you, nice.”

“You do a nice job,” Kuroo joked with an encouraging smile that just looked stupid on his face. “You’re still coming over tonight? I won’t be able to sleep if I’m alone.”

Kei smiled warmly at Kuroo and his dumb worried expression, as if Tsukki was about to reject him forever or something like that. “I don’t think I’d be able to sleep either.”

 

-

 

Kuroo had just came back from the store when his cellphone started ringing and Kenma’s contact picture appeared on the screen. Kenma wasn’t someone who called people, so Kuroo was a little worried when he answered. “What’s up Ken?”

Kenma didn’t speak a word, but he cleared his throat and sighed angrily which Kuroo interpreted in a way that meant he would have to kill Hinata. It’s the hint of embarrassment in the little groan that followed all that that put Kuroo on another track. “What happened?” he asked in a knowing and accusing voice. That was so funny, he’d never gotten to annoy his best friend about something like that before.

“ _Fuck, I don’t know_ ,” Kenma sighed after a while, sounding completely clueless, as if he was calling to recount an event he did not attend.

Kuroo wanted to mock Kenma’s confusion, but he wouldn’t until he knew what this was about. “A good or bad ‘I don’t know?’”

Kenma stayed silent for a while, sometimes making small noises of what seemed to be despair. “ _No idea_ ,” he finally said, definitely giving up.

“Okay, I’m gonna guess this has to do with shorty,” Kuroo started, but Kenma’s dying dog sound made him very quiet.

“ _He… we…_ ”

Kuroo frowned as he waited for the rest and realised it was not coming any time soon. “Yes?” he incited.

Kenma sighed so loud that Kuroo wondered if he’d started crying. “ _I’m so dumb, you’ve told me things a thousand times worse and I can’t even_ -“

“Hey, hey, I do me, you do you. Take your time,” Kuroo said calmly and he heard Kenma trying to slow his breathing down.

After a good half a minute of silence and elongated breathing, Kenma picked up his courage and got ready to speak again. “ _He kissed me_ ,” he said in a voice so quiet that it was almost a whisper. “ _I’m so confused, I thought he liked that other guy, he just went for it, we didn’t even talk about it, he slept in my bed for like 3 days, now I have to visit him again and I’m so scared, I just don’t know what I’m doing at all and… and…_ ”

“You’re starting to ramble like him, you’re scaring me,” Kuroo spoke in a voice that was the far opposite of scared. “It’s all one thing at a time, okay? You don’t need to marry the guy and move with his family, don’t overthink this.”

Kenma audibly banged his head against either the wall or his bedframe. “ _I don’t want to mess it up._ ”

Kuroo had a fond smile at his friend’s adorableness. “You can’t possibly do that.”

“ _What do you mean?_ ” Kenma asked with a moderate curiosity hidden under a thick layer of negativity.

“That guy may be stupid as hell, but if there’s one thing he’s smart about, it’s accepting you for everything you are without trying to change anything. There’s nothing you can do that’ll mess this up.”

Kenma was speechless for a while, taking short breaths and exhaling shakily. “ _I don’t – he’s not… you think so?_ ” he finally asked in the smallest, most unsure voice.

“He did miss two days of school to get you back,” Kuroo mentioned like it undeniably proved his point.

Kenma took in a sharp breath. “ _I guess he did do that..._ ”

Kuroo laughed at his best friend’s realisation. “Don’t worry about it, you’re all good.”

Then, Kenma did something Kuroo never expected: he giggled, like his stress had been trying to find a way to get out and it had been the only exit it found.

“I’m happy for you, Ken,” Kuroo said after that adorable laughing fit had gotten a smile stuck to his own face.

Kenma calmed down and took a deep breath before he spoke again. “ _I’m happy too_ ,” he replied with all the faith in the world.

 

-

 

They’d been laying in bed for most of the evening, Kei playing in Tetsurou’s hair while he read an obligatory book for his English class. They were mostly silent, except for the sound of pages being turned and slow breathing synchronizing with the other’s. Kei was starting to fall asleep when Kuroo closed his book and put it back on the night stand. “Babe?” he asked, and maybe Tsukki had been more than starting to fall asleep because he had to shake the sleep off when he blinked his eyes open multiple times.

“Yeah?” he answered as he resumed playing in Kuroo’s hair.

“Were you going back to Miyagi in August?”

Kei sighed like that question had made him uncomfortable. “I don’t think so, I’ll go in October when we’ll have our two weeks break.”

There was an unheard _If my mother doesn’t disown me before that_ in Tsukki’s answer. “So you’re staying in Tokyo this whole month?” Kuroo verified, his mind going over all that they could do with so much free time. Maybe some sightseeing would be good.

“Yeah, but I’ll try to work more. Money’s getting tight,” Kei finished with a sour pout of his lips.

Kuroo nodded in understanding, rubbing his cheek on Kei’s arm where it'd been pressed for more than an hour. He lifted his chin up a little and pushed himself up with his elbows on the mattress, reaching up to kiss Kei’s cheek.

The blond laughed sweetly, some tenseness falling from his features. “What was that for?”

“For you being here, in my life.”

Kei laughed again, but it sounded nervous and his cheeks turned a few shades pinker. “Are you particularly sappy or is this how it’s supposed to be for everyone?”

Kuroo scoffed, sitting up straighter to be eye-level with Tsukki. “No idea. You’re my first boyfriend too, you know?”

Kei sighed as he side-eyed Kuroo, calling him dumb without having to use any words. “You can be as sappy as you want anyway, it doesn’t bother me.”

The grin that blossomed on Tetsurou’s face was definitely a bad omen. “Oh really? Are you down to test that out?”

Kei moved away, putting space between him and Kuroo. “I have so much to live for,” he pleaded in a dead voice, and that had Kuroo cracking up in loud laughter.

When he calmed down, Kuroo stared at Tsukki’s face with wonder and foolish happiness, which had the blond blushing again. To make sure he wouldn’t get mocked for blushing, Kei laid his head down on Kuroo’s shoulder and a strangely serious atmosphere fell between the both of them. Kuroo cleared his throat and Kei looked up to his face, their eyes meeting for a brief second before the latter looked away nervously.

“Hum, Tsukki, I wanted to thank you for trusting me so far. I know it wasn’t easy for you to do everything for the first time so quickly.”

Kei blinked up at his boyfriend’s face, frowning a little as he tried to guess where this was going.

Kuroo inhaled and exhaled slowly a couple of times before he spoke again. “I hope I can be good for you, because you’re good for me.”

Kei smiled softly in response, squeezing Kuroo’s hand in his. “I’m pretty sure there’s nothing better for me out there,” he said with his face an inch away from Tetsurou’s neck.  

Kuroo sighed happily, wrapping his arm around Kei’s hips and pulling him a little closer. “I can be your first everything, if you want.”

Tsukki giggled a little, smiling against Kuroo’s skin. “That would be ideal, wouldn’t it?”

“Oh, yes, strictly practical. You get everything done and then you’re clear forever.”

Kei backed away to look at Kuroo properly, and then they were smiling at each other like two kids who still have all the innocence in the world.

“C’mere,” Kuroo said as he patted his thigh and the absence of anything suggestive kept Kei from distancing himself from the request. He swung his leg over Kuroo’s, kneeling on either side of the boy’s body. Kuroo brought both hands to Tsukki’s face, rubbing gentle thumbs over his cheekbones.

“Kei?” Kuroo called in a whisper and Tsukki opened his eyes that he had closed on reflex at Kuroo’s touches. Tetsurou rarely called him that, he’d maybe done it twice, so he had Kei’s full attention.

“Yes?” he breathed back, the quietness making it feel like they were sharing a secret. Kei felt a little nervous without he understood why.

Kuroo was staring straight into his soul, and he looked breathless, like he had everything and nothing to say all at once and that he was afraid of waiting any longer. Kei felt himself melt into Tetsurou’s gaze and the hands that were still on his face dropped to the side of his jaw and down his neck. Just as he was about to lose his patience and press a burning kiss to Kuroo’s lips, the latter gasped in some air and had a shadow of panic appear in his eyes.

He kept the air in, licked his bottom lip and finally said: “I love you.”

All the air in Kei’s lungs rushed out and he was glaring at Tetsurou, stunned beyond his comprehension, his mouth hanging open and his bottom lip shaking from the shock. Nothing in life had prepared him for something like this, he had no idea how to react, so he began smiling and he suddenly wasn’t able to control his face. His smile was so bright an genuine that Kuroo had no other choice but sigh in relief and smile back, sharing a dazed laugh with him. When they were finally capable of simply grinning at each other, Kei looked down at Kuroo’s lips and his idea from before came back to his mind. He leaned in to kiss Kuroo who’d barely had the time to see it coming. His hands moved from Kei’s neck to his lower back and even though that wasn’t a proper answer, it was much more than what Kuroo had expected. He knew it was early, but he’d been feeling too much to keep it in much longer. After all, Kei liked to be wanted, he shouldn’t have been worried.

They kissed with open mouths, careful not to get too worked up at first as they barely touched each other. It was a slow, deep kiss that filled them both with warmth, and Kei knew he’d had to say it with words later, but he also knew that Kuroo would understand. If he really did love him, he shouldn’t have any problem with how clumsy Kei was with his own feelings.

They separated after a long kiss, practically panting into each other’s mouths, but they were smiling again as their chests moved up and down at the same rhythm from their heavy breathing.

Kei kneeled closer to Tetsurou, making his head fit under the boy’s chin and hugging his waist, heaving a happy little sigh at the contact. They stayed like this long enough for Kei’s knees to ache and both of their faces to hurt from smiling so much.

 

-

 

“Mom,” Kei said before his mother could start going on and on about how much she’d missed him and how happy she was that he was calling. It’s not that he didn’t like hearing her say that, but he had something important to tell her and he’d already wasted enough time freaking out about it.

His mother wasn’t awfully traditional; after all, she’d gotten a divorce, which was already shameful enough for her. She’d gone through it like a champ, refusing to compromise her integrity as a woman in the name of her honor.

Having a gay son, what did that change to a woman’s integrity? Kuroo’s mother seemed to be pretty okay with it and she was a proud woman who was faithful to her beliefs. Kuroo was her only son, and she was still fine with it. That gave Kei hope.

He could hear his mother’s smile through her voice. “ _Hello, sweetie! I haven’t heard your voice in a long time._ ”

“I know, sorry, but I had something important to tell you,” Kei admitted, wincing at his choice of words since they were the exact ones that Akiteru had told him to use.

“ _Well, I’m listening, honey_ ,” his mother said with naïve giddiness in her voice. How in the hell was he going to tell her that? He tried to remember the way he’d told Yamaguchi since his best friend had reacted so well.

“Mom,” Kei said again, swallowing down the lump in his throat with difficulty. “I’m sorry if this is sudden, I just…”

A soft sigh came from his mother’s side. “ _Take your time, sweetie. Do you need to see someone again?_ ”

 “No, no, I just need to talk to you,” Kei replied quickly, trying to make his mother forget about any kind of professional help as fast as she’d thought about it. That would involve asking his dad for money, which he would never do again.

“ _Okay then, talk to me_ ,” his mother said in the calming voice that only mothers can use to hide their worry.

Kei let his head fall limp in front of his body, the stress wearing him out. “Okay, mom, how would you feel if I told you that I started seeing someone?”

His mother gasped happily, reacting the way he’d expected her to. “ _Oh, that would be amazing, sweetie! Is that what you wanted to tell me?_ ”

“Yes and no,” Kei hinted, pressing the bridge of his nose between two fingers. “Mom, you’re not very traditional, are you?”

She made a little choked up sound, like that took her by surprise. “ _Hum, no, not a lot. Why?_ ”

“For example, if Akiteru wanted to have kids without getting married, would you mind?”

His mom scoffed. “ _No. Did he ask you to ask me that? Should I get ready for grandchildren already?_ ”

Kei didn’t even bother answering his mother’s question, he just wanted to get it out, to be done with it, so he did it. “Would you mind if I was gay?”

That had flown out like a paper airplane, going into every direction except for the one you’ve thrown it in. “ _Hum-_ “

“Because I am,” Kei finished as fast as he could, getting ready to be disowned and to live life as an orphan whose parents are still alive. They’d both have to go through Aki to talk to him. That would become a mess pretty quickly.

“ _Oh, honey_ ,” his mother said after she took a long inhale, probably trying to keep the tears in. “ _You met a boy, sweetie?_ ”

That was not what he had expected at all. His eyes were burning from the hot tears menacing to spill out at every second and his voice was wobbly. “Yeah, but mom-“

“ _How is he? I bet he’s tall_ ,” she said, and she did sound like she was crying, but Kei knew they were happy tears. He couldn’t keep an incredulous laugh in as his own happy tears started falling.

“He’s not taller than me,” he replied with the laugh still stuck in his throat. His mother giggled as well. “You don’t care, mom?”

She probably made that nice mom smile just then, because she had a sweet, happy sigh. “ _There is nothing that makes me more proud than my boys figuring out who they are._ ”

Kei had to cover his mouth because the sob that went through him as he heard those words was so violent and sudden that he wouldn’t have been able to keep the noise in.

“ _I love you so much, sweetie_.”

And there, he was crying properly now. He had to stop crying or he’d still be red in the face when Kuroo would get to his place. “I was so scared mom, I was so scared…”

“ _You can tell me anything, honey, anything, always_ ,” his mom answered with her even voice and her calming tone, and that was all he’d needed to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Homophobia doesn't exist amen
> 
> I wasn't so happy with the end result of this one, tell me what you thought in the comments
> 
> Next chapter is called "Goodness Gracious" 
> 
> See you soon!
> 
> Tumblr is [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/) as well


	23. Goodness Gracious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added this chapter after I realised that the previous one would’ve been too long if I kept it as planned. I hope I made a good call!

“Shut up!” Yamaguchi yelled in Kei’s face, loud enough for the people in the apartment four floors up and down to hear him. “Are you serious? He said he loved you?”

Kei waved his hand in Yamaguchi’s face to get him to take it down a notch. “Yes, he did, stop screaming for fuck’s-“

“Oh my God, what did you say?” Yamaguchi continued excitedly, barely lowering his voice as he wiggled on the bed like a kid at a sleepover who’s about to hear someone’s biggest secret.

Tsukki inhaled and looked down at his feet. “Hum.”

Yamaguchi’s expression went from 100% to 0% in the beat of a second. “You didn’t say anything?”

“Well, I-“ Kei attempted, but he stopped himself to make an annoyed face at nothing in particular, “He kinda took me by surprise and I wasn’t ready to say that, but it’s not like I don’t feel that way or anything…”

Yamaguchi was nodding wholeheartedly, gripping at the tip of his feet as he would grip to the edge of a seat. “So you do, you love him too?”

Kei slapped both hands to his face and groaned in them. “Yes,” he whined like it was the most painful thing he’d ever had to admit.

Yamaguchi couldn’t keep in a chuckle as he watched his best friend become more and more flustered, having rarely had the occasion to see him like that. They do say you never really know someone, but you couldn’t blame Yamaguchi for having expected his best friend to be as rational about this as he was about everything else. He was now learning that Kei’s lack of chill when it came to things he loved also applied to people and that was honestly adorable.

With a little smile and a reassuring gaze, Yamaguchi patted Tsukki’s shoulder. “I’m sure he’d be glad to hear that.”

Kei’s hands fell sharply so he could glare at Yamaguchi. “I know that.”

“Well?” Yamaguchi pressed with an unsure side smile. “I’m not gonna force you to call him right now or something like that, don’t worry.”

“It’s just-“ Kei tried before he had a frustrated sigh.

“Hey,” Yamaguchi called softly, “what’s making you feel uncomfortable?”

Tsukki squinted confusedly, biting the inside of his cheek as he thought about it. “I don’t know, I think it’s a little too fast maybe, or it feels too serious.”

Yamaguchi had an acknowledging nod and started thinking as well. “I guess I see it more as a step to take, you know? You’ve known each other for half a year, I’ve seen people get married after three months. You’re both going your own speeds, don’t worry about that.”

“It’ll hurt more,” Kei whispered when Yamaguchi stopped talking, and his eyes trailed the emptiness, and within them was the type of worry that would not go away with a pat in the back.

“Oh,” Yamaguchi exhaled when he understood the whole meaning of that. “You still think you guys are ultimately going to break up?”

Kei shrugged, way too sadly for it to be casual.

“Look,” his best friend said after he cleared his throat, “you’re happy with him, aren’t you?”

“Yeah..?”

“And you said that your brother liked him and that your mom was fine with it, right?”

Kei just shook his head this time, waiting for Yamaguchi to get to where he was going.

A short laugh bubbled up Yamaguchi’s throat just before he spoke again. “I’m not saying it can’t happen, but if it ever does, do you really think you’ll be on bad terms with him and your life’ll be ruined? Honestly?”

Tsukki rolled his eyes in annoyance. “I guess not.”

“Think about what makes you happy right now instead of what could make you sad eventually,” Yamaguchi said with a gentle smile. “That’s much more logical and you like logic.”

“I do,” Kei recognized with a little tilt of his head. He still looked tired and pessimistic, but what Yamaguchi had said was clearly paving a way to a brighter place inside his mind.

Yamaguchi grinned wide. “I have a feeling that you’re a hundred percent convinced you’re going to last together but you’re just trying to find something to pick at.”

“Shut up,” Kei said with an embarrassed but happy half-smile. “Okay, maybe I am. I’m not used to things being generally good in my life, sue me.”

Yamaguchi laughed briefly, offering his most compassionate gaze. “Don’t think about it too much, live in the moment.”

“You should become a life coach,” Tsukki answered sarcastically, but he was going to take the advice and Yamaguchi knew it too well.

 

-

 

Kei woke up in the middle of the afternoon, cuddled up to Kuroo’s side in the bedroom of his apartment. They’d met up at noon to go get lunch together but they ended up lying down and falling asleep, being both too worn out from their finals to think about doing anything else. Kuroo had had his last exam the day before and his stress had fell so fast that he didn’t know what to do with himself.

Hungry like hell, Tsukki tried to move away from his boyfriend without waking him up to go get something to snack on in the kitchen before he’d start digesting his stomach. He was almost out of Tetsurou’s hold when he rolled over and wrapped his arms around Kei’s waist. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked with a sleepy voice that was so unfair it made Tsukki groan out loud as he lied back down.

“If you’re being this possessive, I can’t go anywhere,” Kei replied as if he was the victim of detainment. “But if you keep talking to me like that, I’m staying here for as long as you want on my own free will.”

“I see how it is,” Kuroo whispered playfully before he pressed soft lips to Kei’s neck. “Your stomach woke you up?”

Tsukki laughed at the ticklish feeling of plush lips on his sensitive skin. “Yeah, you hungry too?”

“Starving.” Kuroo’s lips moved against Kei’s neck in a way that gave the simple word another meaning.

Kei scoffed adorably before he pushed Kuroo’s face away by putting his entire hand over it. Kuroo laughed as well, pulling lightly on his boyfriend’s wrist so he’d take his hand off. “Let me have a snack before you eat me,” Tsukki said authoritatively as he stood from the bed.

“Is that a promess?” Kuroo asked with a suggestive wink and Kei left the room as he heaved a pained sigh.

Kei was nodding and smiling while he made his way to the kitchen. “I’ll bring you something to eat,” he said loudly so Kuroo would hear him from the bedroom.

All Kei had in his fridge that could be used as a snack were carrots and celeries, so he cut the vegetables julienne style to make it less boring. As he was putting the vegetables inside of a plate to carry to his room, two hands sneaked up underneath his shirt which made him jump and turn around sharply. Kuroo was grinning at him, his hands still resting softly on Kei’s sides.

“Don’t do that, fuck, you sca-“

Kei was forced to shut up when lips crashed against his and the press of a body made him step back into the kitchen counter. He opened his mouth against Tetsurou’s instantly and the hands on his hips rose in his back and lifted his shirt up just enough for him to feel the coldness of the countertop on his lower back. Kei backed away from the kiss suddenly, coming very close to hitting his head on the cupboards, and with a hand, he took a carrot stick from the plate and bit in it while Kuroo stared at him with raised eyebrows.

“Want one?” he asked nonchalantly, moving his piece of carrot under Kuroo’s nose. The boy stole it from his hand and ate it all.

“What are we, rabbits?”

“Unless you want to make a trip down to the convenience store, you’ll have to eat what I have to offer you,” Kei threatened, waving a second carrot stick in his boyfriend’s face. When he brought it to his mouth and ate it, he saw that the look of playful lust was back in Kuroo’s eyes so he was ready to dodge the next kiss. “Nu-uh, eat first.”

Kuroo made a face that would be perfect on an indignant child before he picked up half of the plate’s content in one hand and bit in the vegetable pieces as if it was a burrito. Still pressed against the counter by his boyfriend’s body, Kei was obligated to see this from way too close, tilting his head on the side as his eyes asked Kuroo _are you serious?_

Another bite and another 30 seconds of crunching later, Kei took a piece of celery from the plate and ate it while he kept staring at Kuroo, and they both had dumb smiles on their faces from trying not to laugh. They finished the plate pretty quickly and Kuroo wasted no time to grab the back of Kei’s neck and kiss him again, in this deeper and softer way that made the blond feel like he was turning into a pile of goo. Those were the kisses that they normally wouldn’t share outside of a bedroom, but doing it in the kitchen made it feel domestic and Kei loved it more than he would ever be capable of admitting.

They kissed in a way that made them push the limits of their lungs, taking it so slow and instinctual that their brains shut off and they were nothing but bodies overflowing with hormones and attraction. Kei felt a shiver go through him when his hands slipped under Kuroo’s shirt and came in contact with toned muscles and warm skin. Both of Kuroo’s hands were on either side of Kei’s neck, with fingers reaching his jaw and the back of his ears. It was almost overwhelming to be held and kissed so thoroughly like this, but it was also one of the best feeling in the world. It made Kei feel like the most cared for person in existence, which was very warm and sweet.

“Kei,” Kuroo whispered through the kiss, taking a sharp breath before going right back at it, slipping his tongue inside of Kei’s mouth and making him moan in appreciation. The blond’s nails lightly scratched Kuroo’s skin in response, his hands moving down until they met with a rougher fabric.

Kei kissed back fervently, moving his mouth against Tetsurou’s with a rare intensity that made Kuroo freeze for a moment before he pressed in harder. Kei backed up further into the counter, his body pushing away his coffee machine and the plate that used to hold the carrot and celery slices. The rattle didn’t seem to bother either of them as they tried to find a way to get closer without lying on top of each other on the kitchen counter. One of Kei’s legs wrapped around Kuroo’s own to find balance since he was practically sitting on the surface now, so Kuroo grabbed his thigh and held him in place as he broke the kiss and moved to Kei’s neck. The boy sighed suggestively, throwing his head back to offer more area to kiss and bite at. He didn’t mind the marks so much now that he didn’t have to attend school everyday anymore.

A strategical scrap of teeth made him gasp loudly, and the kiss that followed was shaped like a smile. Kuroo was always so proud of himself when he got a reaction, so Kei tried to give him some once in a while even though he wasn’t usually vocal.

After a couple distracted pecks, Kuroo backed away and stared into Kei’s eyes with something dark and exciting, and Kei was about ready to take him by the hand and drag him to his bedroom. Moving his face close to Tsukki’s ear, Kuroo exhaled a short laugh before he said: “You’re hard.”

Kei swallowed down the thickness in his throat nervously, inhaling sharply as he pinched his lips. “Thanks for telling me, I wasn’t aware.”

“Yeah, well,” Kuroo whispered way too close to Kei’s ear, “it’s not like I’m better off.”

Kei bit down on his lower lip and finally lost his patience. “Are we gonna do it here or do I have to drag you to my room?”

Kuroo got the message and practically propelled himself in the hallway on the way to the bedroom. Kei followed with amused concern, walking around a little awkwardly. When he reached the room, he’d expected Kuroo to be lying down on his side seductively, but he was just sitting on the edge of the bed with his knees spread apart just wide enough for Kei to fit between them.

 **~** With a little smirk and a self-conscious squeeze of his own arm as to shield himself from his embarrassment, Kei walked up to Kuroo and kneeled on the mattress between his legs. Slowly, he got down to Kuroo’s level, dropping lower and sitting on the heels of his feet. Kuroo’s hands started at Kei’s shoulders and went down his back until they slipped to his ass, going underneath his pants but over his underwear.

“Kuroo, what are you doing?” Kei asked after he rested his chin on Tetsurou’s shoulder. Kuroo laughed against the warm skin of Tsukki’s neck. “Eyes on the prize,” he murmured.

“Those aren’t your eyes,” Kei corrected with a happy little smirk nonetheless, “they’re your hands.”

“Yeah, well, I always was the kind of kid to look with his hands in a museum,” Kuroo replied smugly before his hands clutched more firmly and his teeth sank superficially into the soft skin between Kei’s shoulder and neck.

“Goodness gracious,” Tsukishima gasped while he held tighter to Kuroo.

The blow of Kuroo’s breath as he giggled felt cold on Kei’s damp neck. He kissed the skin he’d just bit with a smile on his lips while his fingers dug deeper into the flesh of Kei’s ass cheeks. 

With a small mischievous smile, Kei swung one leg after the other over each of Kuroo’s thighs. Now they were brushing against each other, moving in a way that had them both out of breath before they’d even taken their clothes off. After an especially enjoyable roll of hips, Kuroo closed his eyes and fell backwards on the bed with a loud huff. Kei crawled closer, sitting comfortably on Tetsurou’s pelvis, and bent down to reach his lips and kiss him unassumingly at first, letting each flick of his tongue and scrap of his teeth turn it into something more. Kuroo was moaning into every kiss, grabbing Kei’s ass even tighter to push him harder.

They probably could’ve gotten off like that, but when Kei broke the kiss to breathe, Kuroo asked him: “What do you want?”, and that alone made him want so much.

Kuroo saw the hesitation in Kei’s eyes, so he waited and let his boyfriend sort through his thoughts. Kei was beautiful when he was shy like that, but he was even more gorgeous when he felt in control, so Kuroo wanted to give him back some of that confidence. “What do you want me to do to you?” he purred with his lips ghosting over Kei’s left clavicle.

The blond bit his bottom lip for a second before he exhaled nervously. He knew what he wanted, he knew it perfectly well, but there was no way to put it that wouldn’t make him feel disgustingly lewd. He had to overcome his restrains when it came to sex, but for now, he needed more time. He found Kuroo’s lips again and kissed him with a gasping mouth, feeling a little desperate. When Tetsurou dipped his head backwards in the pillow and moved his arms up to hold Tsukki’s middle in a tight hug, there was an opportunity to think about the way to say it. Suddenly, thinking he’d found the right way to put what he wanted into words, Kei broke the kiss and took a sharp intake of air. “Can we-“ he started, stopping abruptly and shaking his head from left and right when he chickened out.

Kuroo’s hands slipped under Kei’s shirt, his warm palms coursing over his skin in an adoring way. “Yes?” he asked with a smooth voice that made Kei feel brave.

“Can we do it?” Tsukishima blurted out quietly, and that grounded the both of them. Kei’s heavy breathing was the only sound either of them could hear. “Like, really do it?”

Kuroo was speechless, staring up at Kei with his mouth half open and his breathing becoming choked as well. He had that face that meant he was trying to figure out if he’d just imagined something. “Really?”

Kei simply nodded his head yes, looking right into Tetsurou’s eyes with a fire he could barely contain.

Kuroo blinked at him for a couple of seconds before he snapped out of it, and even though he was stunned, Kei knew that was a look of good surprise. “Okay, you’re actually serious, oh my God, okay. Huh, you’re aware that there’s a chance you’ll hate it, like totally _hate_ it?”

Kei nodded again, trying to do so in a soft and reassuring way. He knew all of it already, but he still wanted it.

“Okay, and you want me to… you want me to do it?” Kuroo continued to ask, a little bit of excited panic seeping through his words.

That, he had no idea, because he’d honestly never tried anything like that, even on his own. He didn’t know what he’d like the most, but he guessed that starting like that would be preferable since Kuroo knew what he was doing. “Yeah,” he said before he started kissing Kuroo’s jaw, trying to hide the pink on his cheeks from his boyfriend’s view.

“Holy shit, okay,” Kuroo whispered incredulously and it had Kei giggling against his skin. “I’ll try to make it good for you.”

That had been said with such conviction that Kei lifted his head up to meet Kuroo’s eyes, and at the sight of him, his patience started wearing thin. “Will you?” he asked like it was a challenge.

Kuroo grinned wide right before he switched their positions over, making Tsukki roll off of him so he’d have his back on the mattress. As he got on top of Kei, Tetsurou took his t-shirt off and tossed it somewhere in the room. “Oh, you have no idea.”

“I thought you said there’s a chance that I won’t-“ Kei began smugly, but he was forced to shut up by a hard kiss. They kissed long enough to be left wrecked and panting, moving against each other like teenagers giving in to dumb urges.

“If you don’t like it, we’ll switch next time,” Kuroo said before he winked and stood up from the bed, going to fetch the bag he’d brought with him that he’d left on Kei’s desk.

“What are you doing?” the blond asked from the bed, holding up his upper body with his elbows.

Kuroo came back to the bed with the bag in hand, leaving it next to it on the floor. “Okay, call me whatever you want, but I kind of got ready for this eventuality.”

“You’re kidding,” Kei commented with a dead voice.

Kuroo shrugged as he undid his pants and slid them off. “Well, I didn’t expect it to happen _today_ , but it’s never a bad idea to come prepared. I’d rather not have to run to a store when the mood strikes, you know?”

Kei had barely listened, his eyes still glued to the last piece of clothing that Kuroo had on his body. “I’ll lecture you on your presumptuous nature later, now come back here and undress me.”

Kuroo grinned before he crawled to Kei, straddling his lap and unbuttoning his pants simultaneously. “You can’t even do this on your own, princess?” Kuroo teased and then pressed a kiss to Kei’s neck.

“I like it when you’re the one that does it, and could you please stop calling me that?” Tsukishima growled, feeling even more restless than before.

“I told you it’s not meant in a bad way,” Kuroo replied over Kei’s damp skin, unzipping his jeans at the same time. “I love it when you’re bossy and needy.”

“Mmh,” Kei moaned at the brush of Kuroo’s hands against his crotch. “Then you should say prince, because princesses were taught to have poise and to be kind and patient. Princes were raised to become ruthless kings.”

“Do you have to be a nerd in bed?” Tetsurou laughed as he fit his hands inside of Kei’s pants, pushing them off past his ass and halfway down his thighs.

Kei shivered at the cold air, but he loved the feeling of goosebumps lately. “Yes, I have to,” he replied proudly.

Kuroo smiled at him tenderly before he bent down and pecked Kei’s lips. “Alright, my prince.”

“It’s too soon for roleplay,” Kei said in a dead voice that cracked Kuroo up.

Kuroo’s laugh died between Kei’s lips when he kissed him again. Kei took the rest of his pants off with his feet, coming close to kneeing Kuroo in the stomach a couple of times. Once the pants were off, he gave them a kick and they fell on the floor. Kuroo, who’s been holding his weight up on top of Kei with both arms, sat back on his knees and brought his hands to Kei’s underwear, taking it off slowly. Once it was past his ankles, Kuroo dropped the briefs on top of the pants without taking his sight off his boyfriend.

He bent down in a flash and Kei expected something other than a kiss near his belly button where his shirt had rolled up a little. He’d been bracing himself for intense sensations, so the soft kisses felt strangely chaste in comparison. Tetsurou kissed up a line, lifting Kei’s shirt as he did until it was stuck at his arm pits. Kuroo kept going up anyway, the shirt going up over his head and messing up his hair even more. When he got as high as he could go, he looked at Kei through the head opening of the shirt and smirked. “Hi,” he said with a wink.

“You’re stretching my shirt,” Kei replied with a stern expression. Kuroo laughed as he took the shirt off from his head, pressing one last kiss to Kei’s skin.

Kei took care of the rest, grabbing the shirt with both hands and pulling it over his head. He left it bunched up against the pillow and went right back to Kuroo who was now kissing down his thigh while one of his hands was going through his bag to find something. With his free hand, Kuroo lifted Kei’s leg up so it’d be bent at the knee and he grazed his teeth on the inside of the boy’s thigh, ending it in a painfully biting kiss. Kei brought a hand to his mouth and bit into his index finger so he wouldn’t moan for that. The bruises from the previous time had faded, but he kind of wanted new ones right now.

Kuroo found what he was looking for in the bag and dropped it next to his calf, where Kei couldn’t see. With his second hand now free, he grabbed Tsukki’s other leg and lifted his pelvis up a little, leaving bruising kisses on the blond’s other thigh now. Kei looked down at Kuroo when he lost the heat of his mouth on his skin, and the boy was looking expectantly at him like he was supposed to read his mind. “Pillow,” he explained, casting Kei a smug smile.

“Oh, pillow,” Kei said in a rush as he picked up the one Kuroo had been sleeping on barely 30 minutes ago.

Kuroo set Tsukki back down to grab the pillow, putting it down just under Kei’s bent legs and pulling his pelvis up over it. Kuroo went back down, and now Kei expected kisses or small bites like he’d just been getting, but that’s not what happened at all. After letting out the loudest pleased gasp he’d ever had in his life, he slapped a hand to his mouth and shut his eyes tightly.

Kuroo had both arms around Kei’s thighs and his hands on his hips, holding him in place as he pressed his tongue against his entrance again and licked up until he couldn’t anymore.

Kei was so fucking glad he’d taken quite a thorough shower just after Yamaguchi had left, he couldn’t thank the Gods enough. That feeling was truly new to him, it felt both subtle and vivid and the line was very hard to draw. It’s almost like that was just how it felt over the surface and it was a promess that there’d be more.

Kei’s fingers dug into Kuroo’s hair softly, threading through the thickness of it mindlessly without forcing him closer of pulling his hair, but Kuroo still took it as a message to go up a speed. Kei cried out and closed his hands in fists into Tetsurou’s hair when he slid his tongue inside and out, doing it again a couple of times after getting that reaction. Kuroo pulled away shortly after, and his pupils were blown wide but he was still smirking proudly.

“I think you’re gonna like it,” Kuroo said smugly. Kei whined in pain like he was being tortured by something mildly unaccommodating, so Kuroo laughed and kissed Kei’s thigh adoringly to calm him down.

“Tetsu,” Kei whispered in a worn out voice, and the way Kuroo’s head went up like a startled meerkat confirmed that it had been an excellent idea. “Please, just…”

Kuroo’s smile went darker for a second and Kei had to brace himself for what he’d just unleashed.

Tetsurou reached for the thing he’d fetched in the bag, which he opened in a plastic pop that affirmed Kei’s doubts. He knew they’d need that, so he was glad that Kuroo had it with him. He wasn’t so mad about his presumptuous assumptions anymore, considering that they had been correct and pretty useful so far.

With a look of hunger Kei had never seen before, Kuroo moved him a little more toward himself so they’d be in the right angle for later, staring right into his eyes without blinking. It was both intimidating and exciting.

“Now,” Kuroo said with that gravelly voice that was doing things to Kei’s guts, “you have to stay put and relax, okay?”

Kei wanted to call him out on being the bossy one now, but he knew that it was for his good and that he had to listen to the one guy in the room who wasn’t clueless about this. “Okay,” he answered in a low whisper, grounding himself by looking into Kuroo’s eyes with the same intensity as his boyfriend.

Tetsurou took the open bottle with his left hand and exhaled strongly like he was the one who had to relax. He poured some lube on his index and middle finger, rubbing it with his thumb to spread it and warm it up.

Kei’s breath got caught in his throat, but he wanted it too much to let his stress win. If he’d really wanted to stop, he would’ve felt it everywhere in his body, screaming at him to get away. He figured that being a little nervous was more expected than not.

Kuroo slowly smoothed his clean hand over Kei’s thigh as he guided his slick fingers to the entrance, simply leaving his fingers against Kei’s skin for now. “Tell me when you’re ready,” Tetsurou said softly, watching over his boyfriend like he couldn’t believe he got to have this.

Kei’s lower lip started shaking, so he took it between his teeth and almost teared it open properly to make it stop. With his mouth tasting like blood, Kei took a deep breath before he gave Kuroo the green light. “I’m ready,” he said in this low voice, quiet as always, that got him an overwhelmed nod from Kuroo.

“Okay,” Tetsurou replied as he dipped down to kiss Kei’s left hipbone, starting to ease a finger in without too much difficulty. Kei shut his eyes thightly as Kuroo was doing it, heaving a surprised gasp that made Kuroo smile triumphantly. “Tell me when you’re okay,” he mouthed against the soft skin of Kei’s navel, moving his finger gently so it wouldn’t feel so much like an intrusion. Kuroo remembered the first time he’d been fingered and he was trying to give Kei the exact opposite of what he’d gotten. He was trying to do it right.

“Kuroo…” Kei groaned, calling him up urgently. Kuroo moved his free hand next to Kei’s shoulder so he could keep himself up and he went down to kiss Kei as he started to push a second finger in. Both of Kei’s hands rushed to his forearm, holding him in place and digging his nails into Kuroo’s skin. They both moaned into each other’s mouths, kissing and breathing alternately with their lips always glued to the other’s.

Kei wanted to tell Kuroo he loved him right then and there, but he thought twice and decided that it was maybe a little excessive. Instead, he stopped holding back and started letting out more and more sounds, which had Kuroo mumbling obscenities under his breath.

Kei wasn’t laying down completely to accommodate Kuroo’s position, but when he couldn’t hold himself up anymore, he flopped down on the bed and spread his legs wider. His face was so flushed that it was turning properly red instead of the cute pink color it usually was. Kuroo whined in impatience, staring at Kei’s body with an intense despair.

Getting back to his primary task, Kuroo moved his fingers with more intent and watched Kei’s reactions to know where and how he liked it. Before he added a third finger, he separated those that were already in to stretch a little more, making it a lot easier and way less painful to go from two to three. He added lube at the last second, gripped Kei’s hip and made it three fingers as unhurriedly as possible. Kei’s expression was not hard to read, with his mouth hanging open, his eyes closed in bliss and the occasional flashes of pain that left almost as soon as they appeared. Kuroo envied him since that was all new to Kei and he was discovering something that made him feel good enough to be making that kind of face. He couldn’t wait to give him more, to make him lose his mind.

“Does it hurt?” Kuroo asked to make sure, leaving some kisses down Kei’s happy trail.

A long, absolutely obscene moan answered him. He wanted to yell _found it!_ but he didn’t think that would be appropriate.

“Guess not,” he said as he laughed, leaving warm puffs of air all over Kei’s lower abdomen, his chin sometimes brushing against Kei’s dick in a way that was light enough to simply enhance his sensations.

Of course, this couldn’t have been completely painless, so Kuroo was considerate, going as slow and steady as he could to stretch him for much longer than he would’ve on his own self. Kei was breathing heavily, whimpering every time that Kuroo’s fingers spread apart or slipped out more than halfway.

“Kuroo, for fuck’s sake,” Kei said much more loudly than he’d wanted, just shy from begging.

Tetsurou bent his fingers midway at the knuckle, twisting as he took them out, and Kei heaved a long, overwhelmed sigh. “You’ll be glad I put this much time into it in a couple minutes,” Kuroo said smugly, going back to the bag to get something else from it.

“Yeah, but I’ve been hard for 15 minutes,” Kei protested, losing a little bit of heat in his voice as he thought twice about what he was saying.

Kuroo laughed like he’d just heard an excellent joke. “Cry me a river, baby,” he said, and he was back between Kei’s legs with a condom in his hands.

Instead of freaking out, Kei stole the condom from Kuroo and opened the package with his teeth. Kuroo was startled, staring at him with wide eyes and a growing smirk on his face. “Can’t let you do everything,” the blond explained, the boldness of his action making him feel less like he was being taken care of and more like he was taking part in something.

Sitting up so his hands would be closer to Kuroo’s lower half, Kei took the condom out and waited while Kuroo took his underwear off. Kei unrolled it on Kuroo’s cock, moving carefully and looking at what he was doing with a lot of focus. Their eyes met when Kei’s fingers touched the base and the blond had to use serious restraint not to jump him right then and there.

“Lay back down,” Kuroo instructed his boyfriend, following him down to kiss him innocently like he would’ve in the morning or really late at night when Kei wasn’t even sure if he was awake or asleep.

As they separated from the kiss, they shared a look of understanding and Kuroo reached for the lube in a rush. He uncapped it so harshly that he broke the top part of it, but he didn’t have time to care as he came close to emptying the damned thing in his hand. He applied it over the condom, half of it dripping out between his fingers and falling into Kei’s pubic hair. Kuroo’s hand was absolutely gross and slippery, but he still gripped Kei’s hip tightly with it, his fingers slipping lower on the blond’s back. With the other hand, he aligned his dick with Kei’s hole, but before he pushed it in, he looked at Kei’s face to see how he was handling it. Kei had pulled his lower lip between his teeth and he was staring at his crotch eagerly, his hands already gripping at the sheets in anticipation.

Kei looked up right at Kuroo when he realised he was being observed, and after one short nod, Kuroo was pushing the head inside. Instinctually, Kei clenched around him, heaving an agape whine that shook through his entire body.

“Relax, relax,” Kuroo whispered to him, dragging both of his hands up to Kei’s sides to ground him.

Breathing deeper and faster, Kei grabbed both of Kuroo’s forearms and tried to get used to the stretch. One of Kuroo’s hands left his side and came up to take his glasses off, which was a lot more calming than he would’ve expected. He was now feeling relatively comfortable around Kuroo, nodding again to let him know that it was okay to move.

Without rushing, Kuroo filled Kei up until their pelvis were touching, and he had to take a moment to breathe and let Kei adapt to that new feeling that was probably still generating a very ambiguous response in his brain before he kept going. Kuroo felt it when Kei’s body stopped trying to fight it and started wanting more, so that’s what he gave him without needing a sign this time.

With every thrust, Kei tipped his head backwards a little more, arching over the bed as if he was pulled to Kuroo by a magnet. It was way more than he’d ever expected to feel, so he couldn’t keep the noise in, letting out an _ah_ every time he felt Kuroo thrust in and a shallow exhale when he pulled away. He’d never thought he’d ever want someone like that, but the fire in his veins called for Kuroo and he knew he’d never get enough of him.

Tetsurou wasn’t trying to go too fast even though he dreamed of fucking that boy into the mattress until he’d be screaming, but that would be for another time, at least he hoped. Right now, what he had to do was keep it sweet and simple so Kei would be comfortable and pleased by his first time.

But then Kei started pulling Kuroo toward him, forcing him in deeper with his hands and his legs. Kuroo, being the weak man that he was, could not ignore the request much longer and went at it faster, much faster than he probably should’ve, but Kei’s hollow gasps and dazed eyes made him feel less guilty about it.

Kuroo grabbed the spaces between Kei’s bent legs and hips, keeping him in place as he thrusted into him, panting as he threw his head back and really gave in to it. Kei had progressively been pushed to the wall, so his head was bumping in it but he couldn’t care less. His eyes were closed and he was feeling every move with such intensity that he thought he might faint.

There were proper moans coming out of his mouth now, sounds that Kuroo had rarely heard in his life. Overjoyed, Tetsurou kept doing exactly what he’d just been doing, bringing his eyes back to Kei who had his hands on the wall, pushing in the opposite of Kuroo’s movements.

Kei’s eyes shot open when Kuroo’s hand enwrapped the blond’s dick, moving it so subtlety that all it did was send shivers all over Kei’s skin. “Fuck, Tetsu, yes,” Kei breathed, his voice all raspy from his dry throat. He wiggled his pelvis from left to right very slightly, getting a groan out of Kuroo who wrapped his hand tighter around Kei’s dick.

“You wanna come?” Kuroo asked out of breath, not moving his hand in the slightest. He had a naughty smile on his face, but he was all talk because he was close as well.

Kei took in a sharp breath after a particularly well placed thrust, and he shook his head yes, looking up into Kuroo’s eyes with all the emotions he felt for him at that moment, which there was a whole lot of.

After being looked at like that, Kuroo had no choice but to bend down and kiss Kei sloppily just as he was starting to jerk him off. He wasn’t too rough and fast with it, because he knew that Kei was close and that he didn’t need overstimulation to finish.

They kissed with their eyes open, watching the heat in the other’s gaze as they tipped over the edge. Kei came first with an astonished cry on his lips, his body becoming rigid and his back arching even more. He clenched around Kuroo’s dick as he came, triggering Kuroo’s orgasm sooner than he’d wanted it to. Just as Tetsurou was about to pull out, he remembered he was wearing a condom and that there was no problem with coming inside, so he buried himself deeper and came with a gasp. His felt his legs shake for a couple blissful seconds while Kei panted underneath him, his skin warm and sticky with sweat but mostly dark with an intense flush.

“Oh shit,” Kuroo said as the high was starting to wear off, gazing at his beautiful boyfriend like he couldn’t believe what they’d just done. Kei had a weak huff, his chest still rising and falling with ragged breathing.

“Mmh,” he answered unintelligibly, his eyelids closing with exhaustion. Kuroo stared at him for a moment, waiting patiently for his heart to stop beating so furiously and his lungs to stop doing overtime.

Kuroo pulled out gently, keeping a hand on Kei’s stomach just to be in contact with him. As he took the condom off and tied it into a knot, Kei groaned and turned on his right shoulder. After hastily throwing the condom in the direction of the trashcan, Kuroo lied down besides Kei and took his face between his hands.  **~**

“Are you okay, baby?” he said so sweetly that he couldn’t believe it was coming out of his mouth.

Kei waited for a nerve-wracking second before a smile stretched across his face. “Yes,” he murmured, looking tiredly into Kuroo’s nervous eyes. “I think I’m going to pass out though.”

Kuroo laughed spontaneously, rubbing his thumbs on Kei’s soft skin. “You can sleep, I’ll take care of getting you something to eat for when you wake up.”

“I don’t know if I’ve already told you that you’re the best,” Kei said with his half-asleep voice that still sounded like he was not totally serious. It made Kuroo smile.

“You have,” he replied before kissing his boyfriend’s forehead and taking his hands away from his face to let him sleep.

 

-

 

Kuroo came back from the store at 6pm with two bags of food. Sure, it was a little excessive, but he had someone to take care of and he couldn’t disappoint him.

He walked inside the bedroom with his bags, putting them down besides the bed and sitting down on it to wake Tsukishima up. He just had to shake his shoulder once for the blond to blink awake.

“Hi,” Kuroo said with a content smile that was enough to make Kei’s cheeks go pink.

Kei put his glasses back on and yawned before he answered. “Hey.”

Kuroo kissed the tired smile on Kei’s lips, suddenly feeling absurdly blessed to have the right to be this intimate with someone he loved so much. He just wanted to lie down and spend hours cuddling him, kissing his neck and falling asleep way too early, but they both needed to eat if they didn’t want to die so he’d have to take one for the team.

“I got us takeout so I picked you this sparkly lemonade, it’s your favorite, right?”

Kei looked at the can Kuroo had picked from one of the plastic bags, looking awfully serious and somewhat touched all of a sudden. “Yeah,” he answered as he took it in his hand, glaring at the can like he was wondering why that shook him so much.

“And I also went to that shop you like and got you a slice of cake since you’ve got a sweet tooth,” Kuroo continued, completely blind to all the confused emotions Kei was going through.

When Kuroo looked up to give Kei the plastic container with cake inside, Kei grabbed his wrist to get his attention, taking the cake with the other hand to put it somewhere safe where it wouldn’t be crushed. He didn’t know how Kuroo would react and it was always better safe than sorry.

“Kuroo?” Kei said in a small, almost scared voice, and Kuroo sat closer to him and frowned with concern.

“What’s wrong?” Tetsurou asked, laying down on his elbow to be closer to Kei.

“I love you.” Kei didn’t move, looking all bashful in the middle of his bed. Kuroo blinked at him many times, trying to say something but coming short.

As Kei had expected, Kuroo reacted very physically, crawling closer to him as fast as he could to pull Kei toward him and crush him in a way too tight hug. “Oh my God, are you serious?”

Kei snorted in his boyfriend’s ear, held too close to back away and glare at him. “No, I’m kidding,” he replied sarcastically, a little offended by the supposition that he could’ve been lying.

“Fucking hell, I love you too,” Kuroo huffed before he kissed Kei’s hair, hugging him like he was afraid he’d run away. Kei melted into the embrace, humming softly while Kuroo rocked him back and forth like he’d lost him for years. Kei didn’t know what he found the most endearing: that reaction, or the fact that Kuroo had remembered what his favorite food was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is basically porn, sorry  
> That time it's Nick Jonas' fault
> 
> I think I'm going to up the rating right about now oops
> 
> Tell me what you thought in the comments, I'd love to know
> 
> Next chapter is called "Kenma the Silent Observer" 
> 
> See y'all soon!


	24. Kenma the Silent Observer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MCR ARE COMING BACK
> 
> In unrelated news I split this chapter in two because boy am I ambitious sometimes  
> So I guess it'll be 31 chapters now? Or I might remodel some things. I'll let y'all know.
> 
> Every new chapter makes me happy and sad all at once. I'm so not ready to let it go, but I love writing it so much... I hate mixed feelings.

They’d just finished watching a movie on Kei’s laptop and it was nearing 8pm, which was not very late, but they were both so worn out from their activities of the day that they still decided to go to sleep. Kuroo texted his mother to tell her he wasn’t coming home and he stripped to his briefs before he came back into bed. Kei had not put a single piece of clothing back on since this afternoon, and he didn’t plan to.

Kuroo decided to spoon him, and Kei didn’t mind so much. He felt warm and safe when he was held like this, so he wasn’t going to dwell on small and big spoons. For now, that was more than fine.

“Good night, Kei,” Kuroo whispered behind Tsukki’s neck, all sweet and loving.

Kei sighed contentedly. “Good night.” Somehow, he had a feeling that those were not going to be their final words for the night.

After a couple minutes of even breathing and distracted neck kisses, Kuroo lifted his head up from the pillow and tried to look at Kei’s face. “You work tomorrow at 9am, right?”

Kei smiled dumbly, his usual reaction at being proven right. “Yeah,” he said like he expected another question to follow.

“So we’ll need to take a shower pretty early,” Kuroo continued, stating the obvious more than he was asking questions. Kei really started to wonder where that was going.

“Yeah, I guess,” Tsukki simply replied, trying to make it sound final.

“So no freaky stuff in the shower,” Kuroo stated, but he was actually asking. He had the audacity to even ask for such a thing.

Kei laughed unbelievingly. “No, no freaky stuff in the shower.”

“You’ll be too tired anyway, especially after round two,” Kuroo teased with a smirk, moving a little against Kei’s ass so he’d know Kuroo was there, ready for him.

“Do you have an off switch?” Kei asked seriously, mindlessly grinding very slowly against Kuroo. It’s not like he didn’t _want_ to…

 **~** Kuroo laughed innocently, puffing warm air over the back of Kei’s neck. “Nothing too intense, I just want to end this day on a good note.”

“It was already good,” Kei protested, loving the hands that were gripping at his hips.

“But you admit it could be better,” Tetsurou said before he pressed a wet kiss to Kei’s nape.

Kei closed his eyes lightly, appreciating the feeling of lips and hands on his skin. He’d had a lot of that today. “Okay yeah, but what exactly do you plan to do?”

As an answer, Kuroo thrusted upwards against him, his dick falling in perfect line between Kei’s ass cheeks. “ _That_ ,” he replied like that had felt way too good for how simple it had been.

Quickly, Kuroo pushed his underwear halfway down and he reached for the bottle of lube that they’d left on the bedside table. After he’d put some on himself as well as between Kei’s thighs, he thrusted between Kei’s ass again, sliding against soft and warm skin.

Tsukki gasped in surprise, humming a new sound at every motion. Kuroo was obviously enjoying himself, giving slow, languish thrusts as his arms started shaking and his breathing left damp patches over Kei’s neck.

Kuroo slowed down progressively, and with a voice that could’ve gotten Kei hard alone if he hadn’t already been, he said: “I’m gonna stick it between your thighs.” Tsukki lifted up his leg instantly.

When Kuroo was comfortably placed between his boyfriend’s legs, he gave a light pat on Kei’s thigh for him to close his legs around Kuroo’s cock. He’d hated how grossly slick the inside of his thighs had felt the second before, but now, it was all forgiven. Kuroo reached for Kei’s front as soon as he started moving between his legs, sending sparks of pleasure with every brush of his dick against the underside of Kei’s own. He jerked Kei off as he rubbed on his thighs, getting soft moans at every push of his hips. They both kept their eyes closed, concentrating on the sensations that were numerous, but also very soft.

Kuroo came first, moaning Kei’s name in a raspy breath and clenching every muscle of his body for 5 good seconds. It felt like he left his body for that time, his hands moving faster around Kei and getting him to the end closer as he was still getting back from his own orgasm.

“Fuck,” Kei swore, his voice choked and breathy. Kuroo’s hand left him instantly, and Kei was about to give him the biggest scolding of his life, but Kuroo actually made him turn on his back and took him into his mouth. Kei had come a hair short from screaming in bliss, but even at 8 o’clock, that was still frowned upon in an apartment complex, so he kept his lips tightly shut as he hummed alarmingly.

Kuroo blew him like there was no time to lose and a clock was ticking, and Kei barely had the time to grab Kuroo’s hair in two handfuls and thrust forward once before he came with a choked cry. Kuroo waited, moving his hand at the base a couple of times as he kept his lips around the head, clearly pleased with himself. Kei hid his face with both of his hands.

Tetsurou chuckled when he moved away, coming back to lie down next Kei. “And that,” he whispered, looking to the side with a laugh stuck in his eyes at Kei’s embarrassment.

“That’s what you wanted?” Kei mumbled behind his hands, sounding very disbelieving.

“Yeah,” Kuroo replied with a shrug, a sly smile stretching his lips just before he turned on his side and kissed Kei’s cheek where the blond’s hand didn’t reach.

Kei laughed dryly, taking his hands away in one sharp motion. “Gross,” he said as he gazed back at Kuroo with a fake-mad expression.

“Need I remind you that I had my tongue in your-“

“ _OH_ , my _God_ , don’t say that,” Kei protested as a startled laugh bubbled out of his throat, remembering that event quite vividly.

Kuroo was giggling into the crook of Kei’s neck, his breath cold against the sweat slick skin. “Did you like it though?” he asked after a long sigh that put an end to his giggles.

Kei frowned confusedly. “The… tongue in the..?”

“Everything,” Kuroo clarified, wrapping his arms around Kei and making him lie on his side again so they’d be spooning like before.

Kei thought about it with a little smirk, taking the hand Kuroo was keeping on the blond’s stomach to lace their fingers together. “Yeah,” he said like it was all replaying in his mind at that very moment. **~**

“Good,” Kuroo cooed before he kissed the nape of Kei’s neck again, sending shivers all over his boyfriend’s skin. “I love you.”

That sleepy voice saying those words should’ve been illegal because they were definitely a hazard to Kei’s health. “I love you too,” Kei replied in a content but exhausted voice.

After 10 seconds of silence, Kuroo cleared his throat lightly and tried to stifle his laugh. “Your bed smells like an orgy,” he said like a kid who’s using words he’s not supposed to.

“It kind of does,” Kei murmured really quietly, forgetting to be mature for a minute of self indulgent messing around. “I’ll change the sheets tomorrow.”

“I’ll do it for you after you’ve gone to work, if you want,” Kuroo offered, figuring that it was half his fault anyway. He’d also wash the old sheets and put them away neatly if he could find a way to bring them to the laundry room without anyone seeing.

Kei took their intertwined hands to his lips and kissed the back of Kuroo’s hand. “That’d be nice,” he said lazily against Kuroo’s skin.

“Mmh,” Tetsurou laughed with his lips ghosting over Tsukishima’s shoulder. “Goodnight for real now.”

“Goodnight for real,” Kei replied with no energy whatsoever, slowly falling more and more asleep with each word he said. He felt like he was between worlds, but when he closed his eyes and focused on the darkness, he was still awake, still there and warm in Kuroo’s arms, getting pulled to sleep by the heaviness of his body’s exhaustion.

Just as he was about to properly fall asleep, Kuroo mumbled something on his neck which woke him up suddenly, just like you do when you dream that you’re falling down a building or a flight of stairs.

“Mmwhat?” Kei slurred, confused and beyond tired.

Kuroo laughed again, but it was weak and unfocused. He must’ve been on the edge of sleep as well. “I… watched Cheaper by the Dozen with Bokuto the other day and…” he stopped, taking such a long break that Kei thought he’d fallen asleep, “there was this kid with glasses who loved dinosaurs and it made me think of you.”

Kei took a deep breath and kept it in as he tried to understand what was going on in Kuroo’s head for the hundredth time. “Ok?” he said, dragging on the syllables, which got Kuroo laughing unintelligibly like a weakened prisoner going mad.

“I don’t know, I just remembered that,” Tetsurou explained as he tried to stop laughing. Kei also had a confused chuckle, still trying in vain to understand why that would ever come to his mind in the first place.

“Your taste in movies still baffles me,” Kei affirmed, deadpan and final.

Kuroo tried to say “it’s a nice movie” but it came out more like “t’sa ‘ice mo’ie”, which Kei really wasn’t in the mood to contest. Also, Kuroo was practically unconscious so there wasn’t much need for that.

Kei sighed one last laugh, letting himself be taken by sleepiness again. Just before he fell asleep, he heard one last drowsy “Love you babe” and he had to smile.

 

-

 

Kenma was looking down at his phone as he walked, watching his little character walk on the side of the road just as he was. He’d already caught 3 rattatas since he’d walked outside the house that morning and he didn’t know if that was standard, but goddammit, enough with the rattatas already. His nearby radar only showed Pokemon he’d already caught and he was starting to lose his patience when he remembered that the more he walked, the faster the eggs would hatch, so that’s why he kept walking, going through the sea of people who were going to work with straight faces while he was hunting for the rarest Pokemon.

Kenma clicked on the nearby radar one last time before he’d stick to walking around instead of seriously hunting. There was a new grey-ish figure at the end of the list who was staring through his soul and commanding him to catch it. Jigglypuff.

Three steps, that meant anywhere in a kilometer radius. North first, if nothing changed he’d go east, and then west. As he turned his metaphorical cap around and got down to business, his phone rang with the default ringtone he’d never changed. Kuroo had tried to convince him to set up a funny ringtone, or at least a personalized one for his close friends, but Kenma had never actually done it.

Shouyou’s face flashed on the top of the screen. It was a picture Kenma had taken with the flower crown snap chat filter. It was adorable.

Shouyou, Jigglypuff. Shouyou or Jigglypuff? Shouyou would still be there later, but Jigglypuff might not. As Kenma realized he was debating whether he should take care of his real life relationships or his virtual hunting, he shook his head and answered the phone call. He shielded his other ear from the noise of the street.

“Hi, Shouyou,” Kenma answered, raising his voice a little bit so he’d be heard. Hastily, he went to hide in an alley where the noise was blocked by the buildings.

“ _Kenma!_ ” was Hinata’s energetic greeting. “ _What are you doing? I hear cars._ ”

Kenma was almost fluent in Hinata-talk now, and if he wasn’t mistaking, that meant “ _you never go outside_ _so what the fuck_ ”. “I’m playing Pokemon Go,” Kenma explained with an irritated kick of his heel on the brick wall.

“ _Oh!_ ” Hinata exclaimed through the phone. “ _That real life Pokemon game?_ ”

“Yes,” Kenma answered with more warmth in his voice. Shouyou’s giddiness was contagious. “I was just trying to catch a Jigglypuff.”

Hinata gasped through the phone like he was genuinely shook by that revelation and Kenma couldn’t keep the smile away from his face. That had just killed him. “ _That one is so cute! Catch it for me!_ ”

Kenma was smiling again and shit, he hadn’t even noticed it. “Of course, I’ll do my best. When I’ll come visit you, we can play together.”

Hinata shrieked with glee, and Kenma was one millisecond too slow when he took the phone away from his ear as to not hurt his hearing forever. With a grimace, he brought the phone back and took a deep breath.

“ _There’s not many Pokemon where I live though, my sister installed the app on her iPod and all she’s caught so far is a Squirtle and a Pidgey. Oh, and also a weird looking bull thing? But yeah that’s all she got. And we’ve got one PokeStop and it’s this weird abandoned house that I always thought was haunted, but turns out it’s been kept like it was authentically in the 1800’s and now it’s some sort of museum in the summer. Anyways…_ ”

Kenma chuckled quietly, still so entertained by Hinata’s endless talking. “I’m sure we’ll be able to get something good.”

“ _Second week of August still works, right? Because I miss you so much_ ,” Hinata said, his voice breaking in the middle of his statement. Kenma’s heart broke along with it.

“Of course it still works. I’ve been looking forward to it,” Kenma admitted, walking a little further in the alley. He didn’t need more than one person to hear the things he had to say. “And I miss you too, a little too much I think. It scares me.”

Hinata’s laugh was the purest thing on earth, and Kenma had needed it badly just then. “ _That much?_ ” he asked, still laughing a little through his words.

“All of this is a lot for me,” Kenma explained awkwardly, which made Hinata giggle again.

“ _I can understand that_ ,” Hinata sighed happily. “ _It’s a lot for me too, but it’s fun._ ”

Surprisingly, Kenma had to agree with that.

 

-

 

**[11:03] Kuro**

What u doing Ken?

**[11:03] Kenma**

I was going home to charge my phone

**[11:04] Kuro**

And later?

**[11:04] Kenma**

Probably gonna play more Pokemon Go

**[11:04] Kuro**

I have an idea

**[11:05] Kenma**

I’m scared

**[11:05] Kuro**

I pick u up w/ my mom’s car

**[11:05]**

You plug your phone there

**[11:05]**

We catch Pokemon in the car

**[11:06] Kenma**

You know that defeats the whole purpose of this game right?

**[11:06] Kuro**

U in?

**[11:06] Kenma**

Yah

 

15 minutes later, Kuroo was in front of Kenma’s house, the first Pokemon theme song blasting through the open windows of the car. Kenma turned it down the second he sat in the car, looking at Kuroo with bored eyes. He plugged his phone with the charging cable as he said: “Are you trying to become deaf?”

“I’m setting up an atmosphere! You’ve got to get your head in the game, buddy, you’ll have two phones to play with. My mom made me swear that I wouldn’t Pokemon Go and drive.”

Kenma scrunched up his nose as he browsed through his apps to find Pokemon Go. “You needed your mom to tell you that?”

“I would’ve parked,” Kuroo said as he shrugged and started the car. Kenma was silently nodding next to him, smiling subtly by force of habit. Kuroo’s dumb ideas always reminded him of a simpler time.

Before he moved the shift stick on drive and drove away, Kuroo reached in his back pocket for his phone and handed it to Kenma. The blond unlocked it, knowing the password by heart, and launched the app on Kuroo’s phone as well.

“Ready to go?” Kuroo asked with a huge grin.

Kenma gave a sharp nod and they were gone, taking every unnecessary turn and visiting streets they’d never been in just because there was a Pikachu nearby. Kenma caught the Pikachu on Kuroo’s phone, but he wasn’t fast enough on his own phone, so they went back and caught it again, bickering the entire time. “You were going too fast”, “No I wasn’t, you just didn’t click in time”, “I always click in time”, “Seems you didn’t this time”, “Kuro just go back”, “Are you serious?”, “It’s all your fault so turn around”.

They had fun though, a childish kind of fun that Kenma felt inside of his heart like a warm light that’s too weak to burn but just lively enough to heat up the glass around it. They were suddenly five years old again and Kenma had never smiled as much as he did in that one afternoon.

 

-

 

There was a Psyduck in Kuroo’s backyard, it was one step away, but they couldn’t seem to find it. Kuroo’s mother was staring at them through the kitchen window with that air on her face that meant she was considering to call a doctor and ask if that was normal behavior.

“Where are you, you piece of shit duck?” Kuroo asked calmly, whispering to his phone like it would answer him.

“Do you think it’s in the neighbour’s yard?” Kenma asked, raising his phone in the air to see if it would work better like that.

Kuroo ‘tch’d, annoyed. “If it was, we would be able to catch it by getting closer to the fence.”

“Let’s go around the house one more time,” Kenma offered, leading the step. Kuroo followed him, looking around at the actual sky like Psyduck would just appear on top of his head.

Kenma stopped brutally, breaking a step in half. Kuroo ran into his back, holding Kenma’s shoulders to keep himself from falling on his ass.

“My 10 kilometer egg is hatching,” Kenma mumbled under his breath like he was announcing the birth of his first child.

“Oh shit,” Kuroo replied in the same voice, looking at Kenma’s phone over the boy’s shoulder. They stared together as the little egg cracked and shook around a little.

When it finally broke, a Jynx came out of the egg. Kenma stared speechless, looking at this 310 cp Jynx open her arms to him like she was inviting him in a hug. Kuroo cracked up laughing behind him, giving a firm squeeze to his shoulders. “What a beautiful baby girl you had.”

Kenma glared at him over his shoulder before he went back to the game and renamed the Jynx “Kuro”. Just as Kuroo was gasping, offended beyond measure, his mother opened the back door of the house.

“Come back inside you two, I made dinner.”

They walked inside the house, looking at each other with squinted eyes like cowboy enemies ready to shoot each other at any given moment.

“What are those pouty faces, are you both 10? I thought I was done babysitting,” Kuroo’s mother laughed as she brought the last plate to the table.

“He named his baby Jynx after me, and trust me, it’s not an honor,” Tetsurou explained when he sat down at his usual place at the table. Kenma followed soon after, taking the seat across from him.

His mother laughed like she thought he was stupid and she couldn’t care less. “I guess I’ll have to find you a place in kindergarten again,” she said, picking up her glass of wine that was halfway empty.

“Please,” Kuroo begged sarcastically, digging in his food eagerly like a kid who can’t wait to go right back outside.

His mother sat down at the table with a sweet smile on her face as she looked at her son. “It’s fun making dinner for you two like I used to, it makes me feel younger.”

“You barely look 30 mom,” Kuroo tried to say around his mouthful of food.

His mother winced. “Very flattering, honey, thank you.”

Kenma turned to look at her, thanked her for the meal and started eating. Kuroo’s mom ruffled his hair affectionately. “You poor thing, he’s probably been breaking your ears about his new boyfriend all the time, right?”

Kuroo choked on his sip of water, glaring at his mother as he tried to breathe right again. “What the fuck, where did that come from?”

“Swear jar, and I’m talking with Kozume-kun here so if you would stay quiet for ten seconds,” she said sweetly, smiling innocently at her son.

Kenma had a noiseless chuckle. “It’s not been so bad, actually,” he told Kuroo’s mom, nodding at her as if that would make his statement more believable. “The word ‘perfect’ gets thrown around a lot more than it used to, but other than that-”

“He’s got his own boyfriend to talk about over me,” Kuroo protested with his arms crossed, looking at his mother like she’d just betrayed him.

“It’s not been ten seconds yet,” she said, slowly losing patience. When she turned back to Kenma, she had a nasty smile on her face. “What’s that I hear about a boyfriend, Kozume-kun?”

Kenma glared at Kuroo, asking to be saved, but his best friend only mouthed _two can play that game_. “Huh,” he tried, his eyes going back to Kuroo’s mom, “he’s not my… we’re not, like, together or anything.”

She nodded, turning to her plate for the first time since she’d sat down. “Well, this is all very nice. Send me a wedding invitation,” she joked dryly, bringing her chopsticks to her plate with all the grace she didn’t really have.  

Kenma looked down at his plate with big, round eyes. “Mom, I think you just scared him half to death,” Kuroo said as he could barely contain the laughing fit that rushed out of him after he was done talking.

“Oh, dear, don’t mind me, Kozume-kun. Have your fun first, don’t think about getting hitched yet.”

Kenma took a deep breath before he started eating again, still looking down at his meal like it did him wrong somehow. Kuroo figured that the _have your fun_ part was as scary to him as the _getting hitched_ part.

“Was Tsukishima-kun working tonight, Tetsurou?” the mother asked, clearly trying to change the subject. No matter how much she loved teasing and joking, she hated making people uncomfortable, especially her sweet Kozume-kun.

“Uh, no, his shift ended at 5,” Kuroo answered distractingly as he kept eating like a savage.

“Are you seeing him then?” she asked, awkwardly trying to turn this into small talk.

“Nope, Kenma’s sleeping over,” Kuroo explained with a short glance in his mother’s way. “I’ll probably call him later tonight though, why?”

“Oh,” his mother said with a wave of her hand, “no reason. Your game is tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah,” Kuroo answered absently, his mind going straight to volleyball and blurring everything else out. They had a practice game with another university in between semesters, and even though it was technically a friendly match, Kuroo couldn’t help but want to win really badly.

“I might be able to be there for the second set,” Kuroo’s mother said, reaching to ruffle Kenma’s hair again. “Is Akaashi going to be there? I miss my baby boy.”

Kuroo laughed down into his food, his nose almost touching his noodles. “I’ll ask your one and only son if he can make it.”

“Thank you,” his mother replied jokingly, getting back to her food right after.

They talked a little more about the boys on their team and the opposite team, about who would be there and how it would probably go down. Soon enough, they were all done with their dinner, so Kuroo and Kenma picked up the dirty plates and put them in the dishwasher as Kuroo’s mom went to read in the living room.

The boys then went to Kuroo’s room to play some good old Mario Kart against each other. After a good hour of tournaments and Kenma always choosing Toad for some obscure reason, Kuroo got a text in all caps from Bokuto.

 

**[20:29] Brokuto**

BRO!!!! I’M RIGHT OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE I JUST CAUGHT A PSYDUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET

 

“MOTHERFUCKER,” Kuroo yelled as he stood up so fast that he disconnected the remote from the Game Cube.

“SWEAR JAR,” his mother yelled back from the living room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a slut for Pokemon Go
> 
> I don't know which mom is my favorite between Kuroo's or Tsukki's lmao
> 
> If you want to make me the happiest little bean on earth you can leave a comment telling me what you thought! In those last chapters it'll be even more heart warming I think.
> 
> I love you all so much!!! 
> 
> Next chapter will be called "The Game" but it might as well be called "Kenma the Silent Observer part 2" because that's exactly what it'll be.
> 
> I had to physically restrain myself from making a "High School Musical Go" joke when Kuroo said "keep your head in the game" so I'm making it here.


	25. The Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I’ve finally decided to make it 31 chapters instead of 30, and that if it turns out that a planned chapter is wayyyyy longer than I meant it to be, I’ll leave it like it is. You guys survived a 7000 words chapter, you’ll be fine with 10,000. No promises here though!
> 
> *Remember when I said that chapters would always be around 2000 words? Ahh, good times.

The air in the locker room was thick with humidity, pregame stress and testosterone induced overbearing behavior. They were breathing it in like a drug, changing quickly from their warm up clothes to their volleyball uniform. Looking sharp and ready to take on anyone, the team walked out of the changing room one member at a time, following each other in a tight row all the way to the gymnasium. The other team was already on their half of the court, stretching their limbs so they wouldn’t harm their muscles. Quickly enough, each member of both teams were standing on one foot as they held their other leg up, bent at the knee with their heel touching their lower back and staring at each other menacingly.

Kei was sitting in the stands, thinking about how little he actually missed this. In all honesty, when he’d taken the decision to give volleyball up for good, he was afraid that he’d end up missing it, but he really didn’t. That show of peacocks showing off their feathers was nothing but an embarrassment for everyone involved.

Kuroo looked good in his uniform, as did everyone else, but Kei couldn’t be blamed for concentrating on Kuroo. Next to him, Akaashi was sitting in silence, staring quite severely at the court before them. He seemed critical of everything, from people’s postures to how they had laced their shoes, but Kei figured he was just trying to predict an ending by reading the players before the game had even started.

They’d met an hour ago, at Kuroo’s house. Bokuto had ended up sleeping over along with Kenma after he’d found the much desired Psyduck. He’d had to beg a lot to be let inside the house, but Kuroo’s mother had been the one to give in, letting the poor boy in after he’d spent 5 minutes knocking on the door.

To make it more practical, that’s where they had gathered in preparation for the match. After a quick and informal meeting where Kuroo introduced Kei to Akaashi as his boyfriend, they left to take the bus that would drive them to the university campus. They split up in front of the locker rooms, Kei and Akaashi saying good luck to the three others who still had to play volleyball in the middle of a school break. Bokuto sent them a grateful wave, Kenma nodded once in acknowledgement and Kuroo smirked at them and winked before he closed the door behind himself. Akaashi had a small polite laugh at Kei’s deep sigh.

Now that the game was going to begin very soon, Kuroo looked significantly more serious, bossing the players around a little even though he wasn’t captain yet. He’d probably be chosen on his last year anyway and it did not seem to bother any player, not even the actual captain who was biting his nails as he spoke with the coach.

“Have you ever been to a game before?” Akaashi asked without looking directly at Kei, using a tone of voice so soft and natural that Kei didn’t feel awkward from the previous silence, nor did he feel like Akaashi was just trying to fill the silence without really wanting to talk to him. They’d known each other for less than an hour and Tsukishima already knew that Akaashi had not one bad cell in his body.

Tsukki kept a straight face as he looked at the players, watching the other team warming up with careful eyes. “Actually, I played in high school,” the blond explained as he tried to make it sound like there wasn’t any story behind that, like he’d just stopped and that was it.

“Oh,” Akaashi said, intrigued by this new element that he hadn’t been aware of. He clearly picked up the hint that he shouldn’t dig in deeper though, which Kei appreciated a lot.

Both of the teams were now doing their pregame pep talk, yelling encouraging words into each other’s faces. It wasn’t exactly graceful, and Kei had always hated doing them, but he felt a pang of nostalgia hit him anyway, like a traitor stabbing him in the back.

On the court, the local team was dispersing to position themselves in their respective spots. Kuroo grabbed Kenma by the shoulders and shook him a little, attempting to get him into the right mindset before the game would start.

A second before the whistle blew, Kei’s phone buzzed with a text from Hinata.

 

**[13:02] Hinata**

Send me snaps of the game!!!

**[13:02] Kei**

It literally just started

**[13:03] Hinata**

And??????

 

Kei groaned out loud in annoyance, which caught Akaashi’s attention. “What is it?” he asked, showing the smallest hints of curiosity.

“Kenma’s boyfriend is harassing me,” Kei replied a little harshly without thinking, but Akaashi didn’t seem unsettled by how he’d said it, but rather by what he’d said. Akaashi was staring at Kenma with a sharp, cheated look in his eyes.

“I hadn’t heard of that,” Akaashi explained when he caught sight of Kei’s confused eyes.

Kei shrugged, opening Snapchat to comply to Hinata’s demand. “I think they’re still wondering what they are, that might be why.”

After he’d gotten a video of a quite good play where Kenma set a perfect ball for Bokuto to spike so hard that it sounded like the floor cracked, Kei sent it to Hinata and figured that’d probably be enough for now.

When he got back to the game, Kuroo was serving, and the focus in his eyes alone sent a chill down Kei’s spine. Tsukki took a deep, shaky inhale, keeping it in for the entire time that Kuroo served, sending a particularly difficult ball to the other side that got miraculously saved by the opposite team’s libero. Kei released his exhale in a displeased huff, and he saw from the corner of his eye that Akaashi had the smallest, most unnoticeable smile on his lips, like he understood that feeling of disappointment too much.

When Kei’s phone rang again, he picked it up with resolution, expecting a new request from Hinata. Instead, he’d just gotten a message from an unsaved number.

 

 **[13:06]** **2249277430**

Hello Tsukishima, I have a question to ask you.

 

Oh, how tempted he was to answer “new phone who dis”, but that was a Sendai phone number so it was probably someone from Karasuno that he was in a purely ex-teammate relationship with. This wasn’t the time for memes, if it ever was, at that.

 

**[13:06] Kei**

I’m sorry, your number isn’t saved, who is this?

 **[13:07]** **2249277430**

It’s Kageyama Tobio

 

Kei looked away from his cellphone like he’d just been through the worst tragedy of his life but that he was too jaded to care. He guessed karma couldn’t be that good to him forever.

 

**[13:08] Kei**

What do you want

**[13:08] 2249277430**

Hinata wants me to meet that one guy

 

Kei had trouble stifling his laugh at that, but it didn’t matter because a player on Kuroo’s team had just done a cool dink and the public was going wild so no one heard him. Kageyama was so hopeless that he was hilarious without trying.

 

**[13:09] Kei**

Ok and?

**[13:09] 2249277430**

Well I wanted to know how he is

**[13:10]**

What should I expect?

**[13:10] Kei**

I guess there’s a reason you’re asking me and not Hinata

**[13:11] 2249277430**

It’s a weird thing to ask

**[13:11] Kei**

Indeed, it is

**[13:12] 2249277430**

I should’ve known you wouldn’t tell me

**[13:12]**

I guess I’ll just look dumb

**[13:12]**

Thanks

 

Kei clenched his hand around his phone, staring blankly in front of himself. He’d need strength to go through with that, so he stared at Kuroo long enough for him to feel observed and look up at him, smiling nicely before he focused on the game again. Kei went back to his phone feeling a little calmer after that.

 

**[13:14] Kei**

First of all stop acting so entitled

**[13:14]**

I never said I wouldn’t help but I hate people who jump to conclusions

**[13:15]**

So please sit down and breathe

 **[13:15]** **2249277430**

Alright, sorry

**[13:15] Kei**

So I don’t know how much Hinata has told you but Kenma’s more on the quiet side

**[13:16]**

He probably won’t even talk to you

**[13:16] 2249277430**

Really?

**[13:17] Kei**

Especially after what happened 3 months ago

**[13:17]**

You should probably slow down on the heart eyes too

 **[13:18]** **2249277430**

Fuck you stingyshima it’s been a while I’m past this

**[13:18] Kei**

Sure

**[13:18]**

Anyway, it should be fine if you don’t try to force communication

**[13:19]**

I know that’s probably what you think Hinata wants you to do but it’s really not

 **[13:20]** **2249277430**

Ok so, no forced talking, quiet is normal and he probably hates me already

**[13:20]**

Nice thank you

**[13:21] Kei**

You got it

 

Just as Kei brought his attention back to the game, Kuroo went through a three men block with a strategic spike, looking up in the stands proudly as soon as his feet touched the ground. Kei smiled warmly at him, sharing a bit of that pride with him. No other dumbass would deserve his time anymore, not when Kuroo’s team already had a four points lead on the other team just 20 minutes in.

 

-

 

Like she had said, Kuroo’s mom showed up 5 minutes after the first set ended, tackling Akaashi in a hug that must’ve hurt way too much for it to be worth it. The boy didn’t seem surprised or inconvenienced by that rush of affection, greeting Kuroo’s mom with a barely-there smile.

“Oh, Tsukishima-kun, Tetsurou didn’t tell me you’d be here!” the woman exclaimed when she stepped away from Akaashi long enough to notice her surroundings.

She came up to hug him as well, but it was much gentler than it had been with Akaashi, which Kei was thankful for. He didn’t mind hugs that much, but he’d rather not break any bones during one. Kuroo’s mom sat next to Akaashi, and while Kei was still trying to figure out why she was so engrossed with him, the second set started and he had to shift his attention to the game. Of course, they’d won the first set and now Kuroo looked as fired up as if that was his final game at the nationals.

“Look at him,” Kuroo’s mother marvelled, pointing in her son’s direction with her chin. “Is this an important game or something?”

“I don’t think so,” Akaashi replied, following the first serve of the game with his eyes. “I think he’s trying to impress someone.”

Something shone in the boy’s eyes and if Tsukishima wasn’t mistaking, it looked a lot like mischief, only it was so tamed that he wondered if he’d hallucinated.

Kuroo’s mother laughed good-heartedly, casting a short look in Kei’s direction to see if he’d caught on. Kei probably had a faint blush on his cheeks since he felt a little bit of warmth there, and that seemed to satisfy the nosy mom.

She asked Akaashi about his studies and his own volleyball team as Kei shot snapchat videos to send Hinata, anticipating another request soon enough. He tried to catch the moments when Kenma set to either one of the players for Hinata’s sake, but he happened to catch a lot of Kuroo’s spike, quickly followed by beaming smiles up his way. Hinata would probably tease him about that, but he didn’t care. They were nice videos, so he saved each of them in his phone before he sent them.

“Did Bokuto seem distraught before the game?” Kuroo’s mom asked worriedly, which caught Kei’s attention. Did he have something to be freaking out about? Kei hadn’t noticed anything, Bokuto was his usual hyper self.

Akaashi made a vague sound that sounded more like a no than a yes. “They’re winning, so he’s probably fine.”

“Oh, well, I guess with you here there’s no reason to worry,” the woman ended in an hopeful voice that really made Tsukki nervous, but he’d be damned if he asked.

The opposing team’s coach called for a timeout, but Kuroo’s team reacted like they’d just been given the right to go to recess, jumping into each other’s arms and walking slowly to the sidelines. They knew they were going to win, with the first set in the pocket and the second one with 5 points in advance already. It was probably due to the fact that the other team was into dumb practice game mode, while the local team was out for blood. Kei wondered if that wasn’t all Kuroo’s doing, from his earlier bossing around and his noisy speech before the game. He’d probably told them to give it their all, no matter what kind of game it was. Kei respected that in a team, even though he himself loathed these types of games. He’d always preferred the more held back and friendly games over the intense ones.

After that, the game went so fast that the public had trouble keeping up. The opposite team had gotten quite the pep talk from their coach, and they were finally giving Kuroo’s team something to work with. Even with all their efforts, they lost the second set with 23 points and even thought they didn’t look sad, Kei could tell that they regretted not trying harder. Even in a pretend game, it was always better to win than to lose.

Kuroo seemed to be ecstatic, jumping with Bokuto like children in a puddle of water. Kuroo’s mother was nodding with a smile on her face, looking both proud and hopeless in front of her son’s childishness.

As the public started leaving, a group of barely 20 people, Kei, Akaashi and Kuroo’s mother stood up to go wait for the team outside of the gymnasium. When Kuroo, Bokuto and Kenma walked out the doors, they ran up to their supporters. Well, Kuroo and Bokuto did. Kenma was walking behind them, looking down at his phone with a rosy blush high on his cheeks.

“Did you see that last spike, oh my God,” Kuroo yelled at Kei’s face with the least grace he’d ever exuded. He then turned around to look at Akaashi, but that’s when he noticed that his mother was there. “Mom! You made it!”

“Well, you’d have seen me if you had eyes for more than one person,” his mother commented, but it was sticky sweet instead of accusing like it could’ve been. Kei was aware of the awful step-mother stereotype, and he honestly felt blessed not to have to endure it.

“Sorry, just wanted to make sure he was looking. What was so interesting on your phone for like 30 minutes?”

Kei looked over Kuroo’s shoulder to see if Kenma was listening, but he wasn’t even with them anymore. To the far left on the other side of the door, Kenma was laying against the wall with his phone on his ear. There was a soft smile on his lips and the blush on his face was noticeably darker.

“Kageyama was asking me for advice with Kenma,” Kei admitted straight away, keeping nothing away from Kuroo. If they both thought the same way, and they probably did, having them meet so early on after what had happened was not the brightest idea Hinata had had. “Hinata wants them to meet each other and he’s freaked out.”

“Well,” Kuroo sighed, obviously putting that problem in the _take care of_ _later_ section of his brain, “what awful timing on his part.”

Kei couldn’t help but grin at Kuroo, at how happy he looked that Kei had been there for his game even though it was a practice game and he’d been trying to deal with a crisis for half of the first set.

At his right, Kei could hear Bokuto proudly telling Akaashi that he hadn’t lost his cool even once throughout the whole game, which Akaashi answered to with a simple “That’s nice, Bokuto-san.”

There was something, though, in the sound of his voice. Some pride, maybe a little bit of relief too, and Bokuto was simply beaming at him.

“Alright,” Kuroo called, catching everyone’s attention, “let’s go shower and change, then maybe we can celebrate that victory somewhere?”

Bokuto practically appeared behind Kuroo from how fast he’d moved, grasping at his shoulders firmly. “I would die for any type of food right now.”

“Tuesday broccoli casserole,” Kuroo replied somewhat darkly, like a kid at a summer camp telling a ghost story around a fire.

Bokuto jumped away from his friend, grabbing his mom’s arm instead as to protect himself from the evil Tuesday broccoli casserole. “Anything but _that_!”

Kuroo laughed, slowly heading to the locker room. “We’ll get you something edible,” he promised before he yelled “Ken!”

“What?” Kenma replied in a voice that was barely louder than his normal volume, which was not very loud. Kuroo still heard him perfectly well even though there was a wall between them.

“Stop confessing your love and go shower,” Kuroo ordered, even though he was obviously teasing and wasn’t forcing Kenma to do anything.

“I’m not doing that,” Kenma fought back. He sounded embarrassed and defensive, but there was definitely a little bit of nervous amusement in the back of his voice.

He showed up around 20 seconds later, scowling at Kuroo as he walked to the locker room. At the last moment, when Kuroo opened the door for him and watched him carefully with knowing eyes, Kenma stopped sulking and smiled one of his 4 smiles a day.

Bokuto joined them quickly and all three of them walked into the noisy locker room. Akaashi sighed calmly at the scene they’d just witnessed, turning toward the hallway that lead to the main entrance of the gymnasium building. “There are places to sit over there,” he explained, and both Kei and Kuroo’s mother followed the boy to this area.

“Well, I can’t miss work any longer,” Kuroo’s mom said once they reached it, standing up next to a white table, “would you mind telling Tetsurou that I’ll be home at 5?”

“No problem,” Tsukishima answered, looking up at her from where he’d sat down.

The woman smiled, clutching her bag tighter on her shoulder and getting ready to go. “You better come over for proper dinner soon, I need to see you cook something. And Akaashi-kun, please swing by more often, would you?”

She had illegal amounts of motherly love in her eyes and the boys both shook their heads at the same time, agreeing to her demands. “Alright,” she said happily, “have a nice celebration.”

They both thanked her as she left with a warm smile, waving at them just before she crossed the door. Once she was gone, Akaashi grabbed his phone and started typing on it, probably answering to some message or entering a particularly difficult password. Kei figured he’d do the same thing, taking his phone out of his back pocket to check his messages. He had a text from Hinata thanking him for the snaps and a missed phone call. From his dad.

He stared at the number long enough for his eyes to get dry and painful. He’d turned the sound off after Kageyama’s impromptu conversation and he was glad that he did, because he would’ve caused a scene in the middle of their post-game reunion if he’d had to talk to his father. The call was from 6 minutes ago, and there was a voicemail. Instead of listening to it or calling his mom, he texted Kuroo, telling him to hurry. It felt like he’d been thrown into a den of tigers 5 seconds after waking up from 10 hours of sleeping. There were not many things that were as nerve wracking to Kei as talking to his father was. It always ended in yelling things that should never come out of both of their mouths, it always did.

But Kei wasn’t a fool. He knew he’d end up listening to that voicemail. His father also knew that, that’s why he even bothered to leave it. It probably just said something like “Call me, we need to talk”, but those 6 words were probably the worst string of words that could leave his father’s mouth. It meant “Call me, I need to make you feel like a disappointment to rile you up because it’s fun”.

This was a special day, it was his first time meeting Akaashi and he was going to celebrate the team’s victory with people he appreciated and cared for. His father was as real as he’d been just a minute before Kei had been notified of that voicemail, only now he wanted to talk and Kei did not. All Kei had to do was set his mind on the celebration and stop thinking about his dad. He didn’t have to talk to him if he didn’t want to.

Tsukishima tried the breathing exercises that had helped Kuroo when he’d gotten an out-of-the-blue panic attack while they were watching television in his living room the previous weekend. Kei had timed Kuroo’s breathing until it slowed down and then he’d talked about all he could think of to change his boyfriend’s mind.

As Kei closed his eyes and counted the seconds as he breathed in, Akaashi looked away from his phone and frowned at the blond. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

Kei inhaled until his lungs couldn’t take it anymore, and then he exhaled as slowly as he could. “M’fine,” he told Akaashi with his eyes still shut and his lungs dangerously empty. He took a second breath, longer this time, but he still felt Akaashi’s eyes on him.

After some more breathing, he felt his phone vibrate in his hand so he opened his eyes to look at it. With a breath of relief, he saw that it was Kuroo texting him back.

 

**[15:16] Tetsu**

What’s up babe?

**[15:16] Kei**

My dad just called I think I’m freaking out

**[15:16] Tetsu**

What? You answered?

**[15:17] Kei**

No I didn’t but he left a voicemail

**[15:17] Tetsu**

Ok I was just about to get in the shower I’ll try to make it quick

**[15:17]**

It’s probably nothing you don’t need to listen to it if you don’t want to

 

Kei felt immense relief at the fact that Kuroo thought the same thing he did. He still couldn’t help feeling guilty about avoiding his father, but it’s not like he deserved to have Kei’s attention. He just had to tell his mom and she’d take care of it. He didn’t want to have to yell at this man again.

 

**[15:18] Tetsu**

If Akaashi wants to help you should let him

**[15:18] Kei**

Get in that dumb shower already or I’m going to come in that locker room and throw you in it

**[15:18] Tetsu**

Alright 5 minutes I love you

 

That last text made Kei feel a little better, but he couldn’t get his father out of his mind. Why couldn’t he just act like he forgot he had a second son?

If his mother had a difficult relationship with the man, then Kei had no relationship with him at all. It wasn’t the fact that he’d left his sons and divorced their mother after getting a better job out of town that pissed him off right now, even though that was a big part of why Kei hated his father. It was much more due to how he treated him, how he expected so much from him like he even had the right to have expectations. Kei could barely remember the time when he used to love his father, when dad was just dad and he had glasses just like him and he made funny faces when he read bedtime stories. He was never at either of his sons’ volleyball games, but he asked for the score and he ruffled their hair if their teams won. Kei figured that was normal when he was 12. That was just dad, he was proud of them even though he didn’t get too invested. Every dad must’ve been like this.

Akaashi sighed loudly, making Kei’s attention shift from his father’s call to the boy sitting next to him. “I can see you’re not fine,” he said in this detached voice that made him sound like an almighty mind reader, even though he just had eyes to see.

Kei continued staring at the floor rather pathetically. “I’ve just been reminded of something I’d rather not have been,” Tsukishima explained vaguely, playing with his fingers nervously. Akaashi looked down at the boy’s hands before he looked back at his face.

“Is it bad?” Akaashi asked, and you could feel that his question wasn’t driven by curiosity, but concern. It reminded Kei of his brother, who always sounded so earnest and interested, but never nosy _(when he was being nice)_.

Kei sat up a little straighter, making his back hit the wall. He still didn’t look at Akaashi, but he was already feeling less closed off. “Depends if I let it get bad,” Kei continued being vague, but Akaashi nodded like he completely understood.

“Then don’t let it,” he said with a shrug. “Situations where you have control have no reason to turn sour unless you give up said control for others to use against you.”

Kei turned to face him curiously, these words echoing in his mind like the simplest and clearest solution he’d ever heard in his life.

“Being afraid to hurt other people’s feelings only makes it easier for them to hurt yours,” the older boy continued like he was saying the most obvious thing ever said, but he didn’t look condescending about it for even a second. “I don’t know your situation, but if the thought of it stresses you out, I don’t think it’s good to try to fix it now. Maybe when you’re more neutral towards it, you know?”

Akaashi was a goddamn treasure. Kei’s guilt was starting to fly away, leaving him feeling less like a teenager disappointing his father and more like a young man being dissatisfied with how he’d been treated by said father. There was nothing to feel bad about when the other side felt no shame whatsoever. “Yeah, thank you,” Kei replied, the shock from hearing Akaashi’s words still visible on his face.

Akaashi smiled at him briefly, simple and polite. “No problem,” he answered with an understanding nod.

They stayed quiet for a while, waiting as they watched other players leave the locker rooms and walk out of the building. Some looked more dejected than others, and Kei realised that he missed this part as well. Cleaning up after a difficult game, feeling worn out to the bone but fresh and clean, ready to take a 2-hour nap before dinner… there was a strange nostalgia in that.

They waited a little longer before Kuroo literally ran out of the locker room with wet hair and wrinkled clothes, looking around for a bit before he spotted Kei and Akaashi. He rushed to his boyfriend’s side, crouching in front of him like Kei had gotten physically hurt and that he had to tend to his wounds. “How are you now?” he asked in a strangely quiet voice that warmed Kei’s heart.

“A little better. Akaashi helped,” Kei answered as he watched Kuroo’s gaze shift from him to Akaashi.

“I didn’t do much,” Akaashi said modestly, a little amused by how thankful Kuroo looked.

Kuroo was obviously annoyed by Akaashi’s refusal to give himself some credit, but he was too grateful to scold him right now. “You did more than me, I didn’t even know what to tell him.”

Then, in a moment of impulsivity, Kuroo wrapped his arms around Kei’s waist and pressed his cheek to the boy’s chest. “Sorry,” he mumbled into the fabric on his boyfriend’s shirt.

Akaashi had a short laugh at the scene, watching them like he thought they were cute.

Kei hadn’t even tried to push him away, he was accepting his fate and he didn’t even mind it that much. It was kind of nice to be hugged after not seeing him for a full 24 hours, which was a very rare thing lately. After he gave one last squeeze, Kuroo stood up and sat next to Kei on the bench, keeping up the physical contact by pressing their arms together. Tetsurou asked Kei if he was fine one more time before he promised that they’d talk about it later if the blond wanted to.

Kenma and Bokuto showed up 5 minutes later and they all got ready to leave. As they walked away from the university campus, they decided to go to that tea place that wasn’t too far from Kei’s work place.

“They’ve got real good pastries,” Kuroo whispered suggestively in Bokuto’s ear.

“Pastries?” Bokuto replied like he’d never hoped for anything better in his life.

“Pastries,” Kuroo repeated with a sultry nod. Bokuto smirked naughtily at him.

After the other three shared a look of desperation, they took the bus to get to their destination. On the way there, Kenma played Pokemon Go and caught an Eevee, Kuroo watched the videos that Kei had taken of the game and Bokuto talked to Akaashi about how comfortable he’d been throughout the game. Akaashi knew that Bokuto was capable of cooling down without him, after all he was one year older than Akaashi and he’d survived his freshman year brilliantly. Akaashi simply wanted his friend to have enough confidence in his abilities that he wouldn’t need him anymore, not matter how painful that thought was. Akaashi loved reassuring Bokuto and seeing his frown turn into a smile, but he’d rather have no frown to begin with.

The closest bus stop to the tea shop was coming up so they stood up and Kuroo pulled the chord to request the stop. Once they were out of the bus, Kuroo slung an arm around Tsukishima’s shoulders and told the other three to follow them. As they started walking, Kei tried to get rid of the arm that felt heavy on his shoulders, but that was also pulling him down a little since Kuroo was slightly shorter than his boyfriend.

Kenma looked up from his phone after Shouyou asked him what he was doing so he could take a picture and show him instead of telling him. On the first picture he took, Bokuto was mid-laugh, amused by Kei’s efforts, while Akaashi just smiled at them like you smile at cute babies. Kenma had caught the exact moment when Kei surrendered, annoyed and hunched to accommodate Kuroo, but the resignation in his face simply screamed _you’re lucky that I love you_. Kuroo was looking at him with this playful grin on his face that could go unnoticed for other people, but the emotions he conveyed through that smile were so transparent that Kenma felt a pinch in his heart at how he missed the person who made him feel the same way. He saved the picture before he sent it to Hinata, knowing that Kuroo would ask to have it.

Soon enough, they arrived at the tea shop and Bokuto got pulled to the display of pastries as if it was a black hole sucking him in. “Bless the lord,” he whispered to the desserts.

Akaashi walked up next to him, eyeing the display with an indifferent expression. “Wanna share something?” Bokuto asked as he smiled at Akaashi like a child asking you to play a game with him.

Akaashi nodded happily, browsing through the different desserts to find something they would both like.

The other three simply ordered teas, and five minutes later, they were all sitting at the same table. At Kuroo’s request, they made a toast to their win against “a team that didn’t really want to be doing this”, as he’d explained.

When Kuroo started telling a story about Ena making a fool of herself at the last championship as Bokuto had asked him to because he “told it better”, Kenma’s phone started buzzing endlessly as it received a myriad of text messages all at once. At first, he thought he was getting a phone call, but then he saw Shouyou’s name flashing in his notification box with a new text every 5 seconds. As worry twisted his guts, Kenma unlocked the device and went back to the first texts to read everything from the beginning.

 

**[15:40] Shouyou**

With that face Kuroo kinda looks like he’s in love with Tsukishima ahah

**[15:41] Kenma**

Well they’re together so I guess he is

 

After that, he hadn’t gotten a new message in 5 minutes before a bomb blew up in his notifications.

 

**[15:46] Shouyou**

WHAT?

**[15:46]**

ARE YOU TELLING ME

**[15:46]**

THAT THEY ARE A COUPLE

**[15:46]**

THAT THEY KISS EACH OTHER AND STUFF?

**[15:46]**

WHAT THE FUCK

**[15:46]**

WHY AM I ONLY LEARNING ABOUT THIS NOW?

**[15:47]**

THAT BASTARD TSUKISHIMA DIDNT TELL ME ANYTHING

**[15:47]**

I THOUGHT I WA SHIS FRIEND LIEK WOW

**[15:47]**

IM KICKING HIS ASS THE NEXT TIME I SEE HIM

**[15:47]**

ALSO LIKE IM HAPPY FORTHEM BUT WHERE DID THIS COME FROM

**[15:47]**

LAST TIME I MENTIONNED KUROO HE DIDNT EVEN WANNA ADMIT THAT THEY WERE FRIENDS

**[15:47]**

HES FULL OF SHIT SMH

**[15:47]**

TAKE ANOTHER PICTURE I DONT BELIEVE YOU!

**[15:47]**

TSUKISHIMA IN A RELATIONSHIP BEST JKOKE OF 2K16

**[15:48]**

I CANT TAKE THIS WTF

**[15:48]**

WHY DID NO ONE TELLE ME THIOS

 

When Kenma looked up from his phone, he wasn’t worried anymore but he sure as hell was very startled. “Uh,” he said over Kuroo who was just getting to the part where Ena tripped on a volleyball the moment she walked into the gymnasium, “did you guys not tell Shouyou that you were together?”

“I don’t think I’ve had the opportunity to do that yet, no,” Kei answered calmly, completely unaware of the storm that was raging.

Kenma didn’t know how to explain this, so he just showed them his phone, watching as they progressively became more and more horrified at how many texts Hinata was sending. There was constantly a new one, making Kenma’s conversation with Hinata look like a chatbox with a particularly adamant spammer. “Oh,” Kei said as he blinked at the phone.

“What, what is it?” Bokuto asked, standing up and trying to stretch his body far enough to see the screen.

Kuroo laughed in amazement as the texts kept coming in. “Hinata’s having an breakdown because he didn’t know Kei and I were in a relationship.”

“He’s so feisty,” Bokuto said as he was still trying to reach further so he could see the phone.

“Bokuto-san, if you keep doing this you’ll crush the cinnamon roll,” Akaashi warned him as he grabbed the back of Bokuto’s shirt to make him sit back down again.

Kenma turned the phone towards Bokuto since he wanted to see so badly, and the phone was still buzzing in his hand at every new message. It stopped suddenly when Akaashi was taking a look at the phenomenon.

“I think he’s done,” Akaashi murmured like he was afraid it would start again if he spoke too loudly.

Kenma took his phone back and scrolled up to read what he’d missed. The capital letters were starting to hurt his eyes.

“What did he end his rant with?” Kuroo asked, still infinitely amused by the situation.

Kenma read quickly as he kept scrolling down to the last text. The 50-something texts Shouyou had sent were all variations of _how could you all do this to me_ , _Tsukishima you lying bastard_ and _when did this happen_. “The last text is in lowercase.”

Bokuto leaned into the table like they were trying to elucidate a mystery, so Kenma felt compelled to keep going. “He wrote ‘They’re cute though so I forgive them’.”

Kuroo almost choked on his laugh. “I agree with the kid on that one!”

 

\-   

 

Akaashi had to take another line of bus to get back to his place, which was further away up north. Bokuto had stayed with him, but the others had gone to Kuroo’s place by foot since it was pretty close by.

Akaashi was waiting in the bus shelter with Bokuto, looking up at him once every few seconds to make sure that everything was alright. There was something about leaving that made Akaashi extremely disgruntled, but looking at Bokuto, who seemed to be fine, was grounding him. Maybe this wasn’t so bad. Maybe they’d be able to make time soon.

When the bus arrived in the distance, Akaashi tried to keep his eyes on the vehicle so he wouldn’t have any strange bursts of emotion at last minute. Why was it so hard to keep in touch with people sometimes? Sure, they were busy people, but being busy didn’t excuse everything.

Bokuto’s stare forced him to look back at him instead of the bus, and as soon as Akaashi was sharing the other boy’s gaze, he was pulled into a hug that he didn’t expect at all. There was nobody else in the bus shelter, but there were people walking all around them. It’s not like Akaashi cared much about that, but Bokuto did.

And yet. That was a good hug if he’d ever gotten one. Akaashi couldn’t help but clutch at the back of Bokuto’s shirt, letting his head lay on the boy’s sturdy shoulder. At least they could have that.

The bus pulled up in front of them and they had to step apart. They didn’t say anything and they only looked into each other’s eyes again once Akaashi was inside the bus.

 

-

 

“Oh, by the way, your mom said she’d be back at 5,” Kei said as they walked inside the house just after they’d said goodbye to Kenma. Kuroo closed the door and leaned against it to take his shoes off.

“Alright, would you rather go to your place?” Kuroo asked as he kept his shoes in his hand, ready to put them back on.

Kei shrugged, standing in the entryway a little awkwardly. “Your mom talked about keeping me over for dinner and making me cook something, it might as well be tonight,” he said as he took his shoes off as well, putting them down next to the door.

Kuroo flinched silently at how morose Kei’s voice had been and he decided to try to hug the sad out of him. He put both of his arms on either side of Kei’s waist, Kuroo’s hands bunching in the front of his boyfriend’s shirt. “You ok?” Tetsurou asked as he pressed his cheek to the middle of Kei’s shoulders.

“Mmh, yeah I am,” Tsukishima replied, his body practically melting into Kuroo’s chest. He knew Kuroo was probably the one who needed rest, but the temptation of being held and cared for was too intense. Being hugged like this made any plaguing worries disappear from his mind.

Kuroo smiled so wide that Kei could feel it through the fabric of his shirt. “Did you like the game?”

“You made sure I would,” Kei teased, and he knew Kuroo’s mother was right, he was being this intense for Tsukishima’s sake rather than his own. It had been flattering, albeit not entirely necessary.

Tetsurou’s chuckle at being found out was unapologetic. “It’s only fair to perform when I have an audience,” he explained with the smallest amount of modesty that had ever exuded out of him.

“Right,” Kei mocked, and Kuroo just held him closer. That had been the first game Tsukishima had attended in almost a year, and it was the first time in over two years that he’d actually enjoyed looking at one. It’s as if volleyball reminded him of so many things at once, good and bad, that his brain couldn’t focus on more than one sensory memory at a time. It was either awful or it was amazing, hot or cold.

“I didn’t mind watching so much, but I still… there was a part of me that missed playing, and it scared me,” Kei admitted, going even more limp in Kuroo’s arms, but the older boy held up. “I didn’t want to bow down in front of something that had hurt me before, but I’ve just been putting the blame on volleyball for years because it’s easier to be angry at a sport than to be angry at yourself.”

Kuroo thought that might’ve been what Akiteru had told him about. He felt bad for knowing already, especially since Aki had told him that Kei would probably not want him to know, but he could still listen.

“I don’t think I’ve ever actually told you what changed last year,” Kei continued with his voice devoid of any emotion that could give Kuroo an idea of what state of mind his boyfriend was in.

Tetsurou took a step back and grabbed Kei’s hand, silently dragging him to the bedroom so they could sit and talk seriously. Tsukishima followed without even a question, letting his fingers move between Kuroo’s own.

In the bedroom, they sat facing each other with their legs hanging from the side of the mattress. Kei did not look nervous in the least, so Kuroo was not worried.

“You can tell me if you want,” Kuroo assured the blond, picking up the conversation right where Kei had left it.

Tsukishima’s hand was still in Kuroo’s, but his hold was firm. “I knew I couldn’t keep it up when I would’ve rather died in the morning than go to that fucking practice,” Kei said bluntly, and it took Kuroo by surprise, but he understood. “There’s some lingering frustration that caught up to me and it basically took away all the life I had in me.”

Oh. Maybe that wasn’t exactly what Akiteru had talked to Kuroo about.

Kei shook his head and looked down at his fingers intertwined with Kuroo’s. “It worried everyone except me, I guess. I just wanted to lie down and wait for time to pass, but no one was having that, so my mom made me see someone. She wasn’t a psychologist or anything, she was just the school counsellor, but that’s the best we had in that situation.”

All that time, Kuroo had thought that Tsukki was clueless about what was happening to him. Turned out he was more than aware, he just didn’t want to care about it.

“I kept playing, I kept acting like I cared, but I was so _tired_.” Kei’s voice almost broke, and he was now holding Kuroo’s hand much tighter than he’d been before. “I wanted to be angry for feeling like this but I couldn’t even do that. I spent my time either at home curled up in bed or smashing balls in front of that damn net.”

He took a deep breath and looked back up at Kuroo’s face. If he wasn’t capable of being angry then, he sure was now. “I think… I think I felt like it was too much, so I quit after a championship and I never went back to play.”

Kuroo didn’t know what to say, but Tsukishima didn’t look like he was expecting him to answer anyway. Kuroo only had to listen, so that’s what he kept doing, even though it hurt him so much to hear that.

“It was fine for a while, with the free time and the meds, but then… I moved here,” Kei said like he was sorry, like he’d never meant to turn this place into a bad memory, like he didn’t want Kuroo to feel responsible for not making him feel better.

“It’s not your fault,” Tetsurou said, attempting to get that sorry look out of Kei’s eyes as fast as he could, “and I get it, you just wanted to feel better, it’s okay.”

Kei fell forward, his head bumping into Kuroo’s shoulder softly. “Sometimes I still try to convince myself that it was because I was overworking myself, but deep down I know it’s not.”

“Doesn’t matter why,” Kuroo whispered as his hand started moving into Kei’s hair. It was getting quite longer than when they’d first met each other. “What matters is that you’re still here. Things settle but sometimes people don’t, there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re getting better though, I can tell.”

Kei made a little humming noise that confirmed what Kuroo thought in its positive intonation. “I’m coming to terms with a lot of things,” Tsukki explained vaguely, but it was as clear as it could’ve been to Kuroo.

“I’m proud of you,” Tetsurou confessed, pressing Kei closer to him with the hand that was still buried in the blond hair. “I know you didn’t want to let it get to you, but I’m happy you’re telling me.”

Kei closed his eyes and smiled, his face hidden away from Kuroo. When had he gotten that lucky?

They eventually let go of each other’s hands so they could hug properly, holding each other in a hard embrace that made Kei feel like he was the most alive he’d been in many years. They gazed into each other’s eyes from way too close and giggled, dumbly happy to be into each other’s arms after everything that had happened to them before they’d met. It felt like a second chance at life, and they were both gladly taking it. They laid down on the bed without leaving each other, cuddling quietly.

Going back to small talk after this had been strangely easy, and as they were talking about what they could make for dinner with Kuroo’s mother, Tetsurou remembered that he swore they’d talk about the problem of Kei’s father later. Maybe it was better to get it over with now, while Kei was calmer and noticeably happier.  

After they’d agreed on a meal, Kuroo asked: “Do you want to talk about your dad?” in a manner that was so casual that it did not set Kei’s nerves on high alert.

Tsukishima seemed to be deep in thought for about 10 seconds before he had his answer. “I won’t listen to the voicemail and I won’t call him back. I might just send him a letter in a couple days.”

“I could be the one who calls him,” Kuroo suggested, although he was obviously joking. He picked his phone and pretended to dial a number before he pressed the device to his ear. “Yes hello is this Tsukishima Kei’s father? Yeah this is your son’s boyfriend.”

Kei had to chuckle at the dumb voice Kuroo was using, acting like he was on a bad soap opera. “I may also have taken your son’s virginity, I’m sorry about that but I hope you will understand that it just couldn’t be helped.”

Kei rolled on his back, laughing with the type of abandon that he rarely experienced. That was just too dumb and it was strange that it made him feel better but it did. “I love your beautiful man of a son so much that I tell him 300 times a day because I can’t help myself.”

“Oh my God, Kuroo,” Kei whined as he covered his face with his hands in despair.

“Is that silky blond hair from you?” Kuroo asked the phone, attempting to pull a fake-serious face as he giggled through his words. “If so I’m thanking you so much for that.”

“Kuroo-“

“Was he always like this though? You know, a pain in the ass with a pretty face?”

At this point, Kei was basically dying of laughter which hadn’t happened since that time Hinata had came up to him and whispered “Do you think animals can tell when you’re lying to them?” and Tsukishima had to be picked up from the floor by a very confused Yamaguchi.

Kuroo also had trouble breathing from how hard he was laughing, but he was committing to this no matter what. “Okay I think I’m gonna have to go now, he’s giving me the bedroom eyes again. I love your son, bye!”

Kuroo launched himself as his boyfriend, kissing his face as they both laughed like they’d never experienced anything sad in their lives. “You’re the dumbest – Kuroo stop it!”

“You love it,” Kuroo mumbled with his mouth against Kei’s cheek, talking between kisses.

Kei was still laughing, pulling lightly on Tetsurou’s hair to get him away. Kuroo didn’t give, chuckling against Kei’s skin in small puffs of warm air. “Do you think he’d actually leave you alone if I called him?”

“I think I’d never be left alone again in my life,” Kei replied jokingly, even though they both knew that in an hypothetical situation where Kuroo would try to call Kei’s father, it would end remarkably bad regardless of the way things were said.

“Better keep it all to myself, then,” Tetsurou said quietly, leaning down to press a light kiss on Kei’s lips.

Yeah. It’d be better for everyone if Kuroo kept it all to himself: the feelings, the explanations, the truth and Kei himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kei : *gets a text from Kageyama, looks at the camera like he's on The Office*
> 
> This is officially the longest chapter!
> 
> I made myself sad by writing this
> 
> But I also made myself laugh many times because I'm my best public ahah
> 
> I must admit that there are moments where I doubt myself heavily while I'm writing. I sometimes need reassurance, and I cannot thank you enough for giving it to me. To those who comment, give kudos and bookmarks, thank you so much.
> 
> The next chapter will be called "Lazy Morning" and it definitely won't be as long as this one.
> 
> Tumblr is [sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/) :P


	26. Lazy Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry that this is sorta late, I’ve not been feeling it lately. Anyway, we’re getting closer to the finish line and I’m trying to focus on that. I hope this is a good read!

Everything was slow, that evening. There was nothing to worry about, or at least, nothing that needed express attention. Kei was texting his brother, sitting between Kuroo’s legs on the couch. Their long legs were taking up the entirety of the couch, so Kuroo’s mother was reading in her bedroom, having no place to sit downstairs but the kitchen table. When she’d entered the room after being on the phone with her sister for 30 minutes, she laughed as the boys tried to move to give her some space, saying she’d be damned if she ever tried to separate them. Kei only irked an eyebrow, but Tetsurou laughed loudly as his mother left the room.

It had been 10 minutes since his mother had gone upstairs when Kuroo started being bored with the game he was playing on his phone. He closed the app and left the device face down on the coffee table, and if Kei had noticed Kuroo’s movements, he didn’t let it show. Soon enough, there was a chin pressing between Kei’s shoulder blades and arms creeping around his waist.

“What are you doing?” Kuroo asked innocently, the vibrations of his voice shaking through Kei’s spine. If the smile on Kei’s face had barely been there before, it was now a full on smirk.

As he kept tapping letters on his phone, Kei leaned into Kuroo’s chest even more, which forced Tetsurou to lift his chin and prop it on top of Tsukishima’s shoulder. “I’m talking to my brother,” came the short, simple answer.

“You’ve been texting him for half an hour,” Kuroo replied with a pout that Kei couldn’t see, but Kuroo instantly felt bad when he realised that they might’ve been talking about their father. From what he’d understood since Kei had mentioned his father for the first time, Akiteru was on better terms with the man and would even celebrate Christmas with his father’s side of the family every two years. Kei would rather be run over by a tank.

Kei laughed briefly and silently, with only the shake of his shoulders giving him away. “He proposed to his girlfriend two hours ago,” he explained afterwards, a second before his phone vibrated again and notified him of a new text message from Akiteru.

“Oh,” Kuroo said in relief, trying to read over Kei’s shoulder. “Shouldn’t he be talking with her then?”

“Seems that my mother is already looking at wedding dresses with her on the internet,” Kei replied like there was nothing surprising about that. Kuroo had yet to meet Kei’s mother, but it didn’t scare him so much. She seemed so _real_ , and Kuroo knew without a doubt that they both wanted the same thing, which was Kei’s happiness.

Tetsurou suddenly had an idea, so he nudged Kei’s shoulder with his chin. “Give me his number,” he requested, looking down at what Kei was writing to his brother now.

“What? No,” Kei refused instantly, taking his phone away from Kuroo’s eyes. “If you text him now, he’ll know I’m with you and he won’t stop teasing me about it.”

“Well, you’re almost always with me, so you might want to get used to it,” Kuroo said cheekily, pulling his tongue out at the end. “Come on, I just want to congratulate him.”

“Obviously you’ve never been the target of his teasing,” Kei sighed, but he opened his contact info and showed his brother’s number to Kuroo. With a beeming smile, Kuroo took his phone back from the coffee table and entered the number in a new conversation.

 

**[19:46] Kuroo**

Congratulations ;)

**[19:46] Akiteru**

Thanks but who is this?

**[19:46] Kuroo**

Guess

**[19:47] Akiteru**

Ok well since the only people we’ve told are our families, I’m gonna guess you’re someone’s friend or partner

**[19:47] Kuroo**

I sure do like how partner sounds

**[19:47] Akiteru**

Ahah ok

**[19:48]**

My side or Saeko’s?

**[19:48] Kuroo**

Yours

**[19:48] Akiteru**

Kuroo :)

**[19:49] Kuroo**

Wow you’re good

**[19:49]**

I didn’t even need to mention how good looking I am

**[19:50] Akiteru**

Always been good at guessing

**[19:50]**

So Kei told you?

**[19:50] Kuroo**

Yeah I was bored so I wanted to know who he’d been texting for 30 minutes

 

“Are you still texting him?” Kei asked at this point, turning around as much as he could to see Kuroo’s hands still typing on his cell phone. “What are you doing, pretending you’re the president?”

Kuroo laughed in a warm puff of air as he pressed a kiss to the side of Kei’s head. “We’re bonding, soon enough I’ll be his best man.”

“If you’re the best man, what does that leave for me? The flower girl?”

Tetsurou chuckled in Kei’s hair again, leaving even more kisses against the blond strands. “You’d make an amazing flower girl,” he mumbled too close to Kei’s head. “They could also have a more traditional wedding, I’d like to see you in a yukata.”

Kei huffed an annoyed sigh. “Don’t try to influence them just because of that,” he warned jokingly, even though his tone of voice was dry.

“Don’t start giving me ideas,” Kuroo threatened right before he gave one last kiss to the soft hair and looked back at his phone.

 

**[19:51] Akiteru**

I’m sorry I’ve been monopolizing him

**[19:52]**

I hope you’ll understand that I needed someone to share with

**[19:52] Kuroo**

Of course no worries

**[19:52]**

He thinks you’ll tease him because you know he’s with me now though

**[19:53] Akiteru**

I might have a tendency to do that yeah

**[19:53]**

But I’ll be nice just this once

**[19:53] Kuroo**

Anyway I wish you all the happiness with your fiancée

**[19:54]**

And don’t take too long to choose a date because she’ll get impatient

**[19:54] Akiteru**

Ahah yeah thanks for the tip

**[19:54]**

We’ll probably discuss it tonight but I’m thinking 6 months from now

**[19:55] Kuroo**

That should be just fine

 

Kei was wiggling impatiently between Kuroo’s legs, trying to look down at his boyfriend’s phone unsuccessfully. “What the hell are you talking about for it to take so long?”

Kuroo’s eyes went up to Kei’s face and he had a startled laugh at his somber expression. “We’re discussing a date for the wedding,” Kuroo tried to answer nonchalantly, but since Kei was still frowning angrily like a child, it was a difficult task.

“A date for the – are you the one getting married to him?”

Kuroo smiled at him with disbelief in his eyes, and he even giggled at how mad that seemed to make Kei. “Wait a second, you have the capacity to feel neglected? I expected you to be too proud to express it _at least_.”

Kei gasped at him and tried to get up from the couch but Kuroo held him in place. “You ask for my brother’s number and then the both of you proceed to act like – would you let me go!”

“Ah, my grumpy baby,” Kuroo cooed as he pressed his face to Kei’s back and held him closer with his hands resting on the blond’s stomach. “No matter how much you and your brother look alike, you know that I only have eyes for you.”

“Shut up,” Kei protested weakly as he slumped back into Kuroo’s chest. “You have like a billion people to text and I only have my brother but you stole him from me.”

Kei was obviously aware of how childish that sounded because, even though Kuroo couldn’t see his face, his smile was audible through his voice.

“Sorry,” Kuroo said on a sarcastic tone, forgetting his phone on the couch to slip his hands underneath Kei’s shirt and squeeze his sides. Kei yelped as he tried to get away once more, but he had no way out, unless he didn’t mind knocking his teeth off on the wooden floor.

“Your hands are cold!” Tsukishima protested as he put his efforts into pulling the hands off of him instead of escaping them.

Kuroo scoffed as he squeezed again. “Don’t exaggerate, they’re lukewarm,” he said into Kei’s ear before he went down to nibble at the side of his neck.

Kei attempted to shy away as much as he could, bending down until he looked like he was stretching his legs before a run. Kuroo was chuckling like an idiot behind him, letting his hands roam the expanse of Kei’s back and feel the goosebumps on his skin. His hands must’ve really been freezing cold after all.

“Okay, staying like that actually hurts like a bitch,” Kei admitted as he straightened back up, practically slamming his back into Kuroo’s chest, forcing the latter to move his hands back to Kei’s hips. “I’d like it if you would stop bothering me.”

“Bothering you?” Kuroo chorused, his fingers gripping tighter at Kei’s hips. “I have never done such a thing in my life.”

When Kei turned to glare at him over his shoulder, Kuroo stunned him with a brief kiss. “Wanna go to bed? It’s 8, you must be getting tired.”

Kei’s face fell instantly and he resumed his glaring, facing away from Kuroo in an instant. It felt so easy to rile him up and Kuroo was very amused.

“I know you’re fake mad,” he said as he poked Kei’s back with his fingers, “and you know I love your pissed off face.”

“That’s why I’m not showing it to you,” Tsukki replied smugly, concentrated on something he was writing on his phone.

Kuroo pulled his leg back from where it was stuck between Kei and the back of the couch and struggled to get up just to sit right back in front of his boyfriend. Kei had looked mildly interested as he watched him move, but now he just looked bored and judgemental, which was almost as satisfying as the pissed off face would’ve been.

With his legs crossed underneath his body, Kuroo stretched his arms to catch Kei’s wrists, which had him dropping his phone on the couch. “You’re so cute,” Tetsurou praised, but Kei didn’t stop glaring.

“Yeah I am,” Tsukishima replied, straight faced and completely serious. The amount of time he was able to stay neutral was truly honorable, but the way Tetsurou was staring at him ended up making him break into a smile and, quickly enough, laughing lightly.

“Even cuter now,” Kuroo said with an airy smile on his lips, letting go of Kei’s wrists to grab his hands and lace their fingers together. Kuroo leaned forward just a little bit, staring up into Kei’s eyes with one of the dumbest, most adoring expression that the blond had ever been forced to look at.

Kei laughed, there was nothing he could’ve done about it. Kuroo only smiled softer in response. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Kei asked through his held-back laugh.

“Because I love you,” Kuroo answered brightly, finishing off his statement with another short kiss, barely brushing his lips against the other’s. “Love you a lot.”

Kei had closed his eyes at the contact, but he blinked them open slowly at Kuroo’s sudden truthful voice. He looked back into his eyes, sharing a gaze that enwrapped them in a place where time slowed down. It could’ve been uncomfortable, but they were far too gone to let that happen.

Kei was about to ruin it though, and he felt sorry for it, but he had to. “I’m gonna ask you a question that you’ll hate,” he warned without looking away from Kuroo’s eyes.

“Okay,” Kuroo said quietly, noticing how thick with seriousness the air had just became between them.

“Why do you love me?”

Kuroo grinned at him, squeezing his fingers a little bit tighter around Kei’s. “I don’t hate that question,” he answered with his smile still wide.

Kei was confused, but his relief was overthrowing that. “Okay then, answer it.”

That made Kuroo laugh just before he stood up and pulled Kei with him, dragging him around the house to his bedroom without saying a single word, but he had a proud smile on his face that made him look especially eager.

“We left our phones on the couch,” Kei said when they entered the bedroom, finding nothing else to say in that situation. He had no idea why they even needed to move, but he guessed that there was a good reason.

“We’ll get them later,” Kuroo proposed with a shrug, closing the door behind them before he pulled Kei closer and kissed the gasp out of his mouth. When Kuroo moved away, Kei was staring at him questioningly, but he had a pleased gleam in his eyes.

They looked at each other some more and Kuroo was completely oblivious to Kei’s confusion when he kept on guiding him to his bed, pressing flat hands on his chest to make him sit down. He sat next to him, circled his arms around Kei’s waist and dragged him down so they’d be lying next to each other.

“What the hell, Kuroo?” Kei asked, easing into the hug quickly even though he wasn’t sure what was going on.

 “I just really wanted to cuddle with you,” Kuroo explained, all innocent and sweet.

Kei frowned, having not expected that kind of answer. “Please explain what your intentions are next time,” he said before he had a weak, nervous laugh.

“But you didn’t push me away,” Kuroo replied smugly and Kei instinctually rolled his eyes.

“I was hoping you weren’t going to try anything while your mother is in the house, I was trusting your better judgement until I couldn’t anymore,” Kei said blandly and it had Kuroo giggling like a child.

His laugh was warm on Kei’s neck, and as a hand reached out to grab Kei’s, the giggles died down. “Everything you do looks effortless,” Kuroo declared, breaking the silence.

“Huh?” Kei questioned simply, scraping his nails on the top of Kuroo’s hand.

“You asked me why I love you,” Kuroo explained right before he pressed a proud smile onto Kei’s neck. “The first reason is, everything you do looks effortless.”

“Okay, but what does that even mean?”

Kuroo chuckled softly as he shook his head in disappointment while it was still resting in the crook of Kei’s neck. “It means that you’re snarky without trying, you’re funny without trying and you’re cute without trying.”

Kei blushed at Kuroo’s words, but he refused to get flustered from something that dumb. “First of all, there's nothing effortless about my snarkiness, and I’m not even sure that’s what the word means,” Kei teased while he kept a straight face that was quite harder to maintain when Kuroo sighed loudly.

“Well that’s how I use it,” Kuroo answered, acting all defensive. “You wanna know something else? I love how you can be super rude to people while also being nice to old folk and then pretending you’re not because you don’t want me to think you’re nice.”

Kei laughed at the reference, remembering the warmth in Kuroo’s eyes and smile that day. “There’s a difference between being nice and respectful,” he pointed out, but he was completely ignored.

“You’re incapable of staying awake, and that’s adorable,” Tetsurou continued as if he was making a mental list.

“How is that a rea-“

“You keep interrupting me, which shows that you have a lot to say and you’re opiniated…”

“Okay, if anything you’re the one who keeps interrupting me and you’re not making any sense anymore,” Kei said as he tried to sound angry, but he couldn’t because of how playful Kuroo was being about it.

Kuroo grinned against Kei’s skin like he’d never enjoyed anything more in his life. “You care a lot, you care about me, about your family, about your friends and even about people you hate. I don’t know a lot of people who would give advice to a guy they hate.”

“I mean,” Kei tried awkwardly, starting to be overwhelmed with how much Kuroo actually had to say, “I don’t totally hate him, maybe.”

“See,” Kuroo drawled happily, “that’s another thing. You keep saying you hate people but you don’t really, they just annoy you. But I don’t annoy you. Not enough to run away, at least.”

“You’re starting to be creepy,” Kei joked while Kuroo hugged him closer to his chest. “I’m sorry I even asked this, I just realised that feeling special when you live in a town of barely ten thousand people is pretty easy, but when you live in Tokyo… there’s probably a million boys out there who are snarkier and funnier and cuter than me.”

After he gave his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek, Kuroo’s voice became more serious. “But they’re not you, are they?”

Kei pinched his lips and shut his eyes.

“There’s not one boy in this hell city that I’d rather be with because I already have you. That might seem like it’s more about me than it is about you, but I think that the fact that you deal with it so well says a lot about how great you are. I know that it can’t be easy to deal with my anxiety while you have your own shit to deal with, but you never let me down, not once. You’ve helped me so much without thinking twice. You deserve to be loved so much more than you already are.”

Kei was staring at the ceiling, moving his hand to get a better grasp on Tetsurou’s hand. Kuroo closed his eyes and buried his face in Kei’s hair on the side of his head. They stayed silent for a while, breathing in synch and holding each other.

“Thank you,” Kei whispered in the quiet, no longer feeling stupid about his question. Even though it can come off as a lack of confidence or, worse, doubt, it was a legit question that it was sometimes better to ask. "I love you too, by the way."

“I’m expecting an essay on why you do tomorrow morning at 10 am sharp,” Kuroo replied in a silly voice before he pressed a kiss to Kei’s hair as the boy sighed in despair.

“Why must you ruin moments?”

“You love it,” Tetsurou said confidently, lifting his upper body with his elbow to kiss Tsukki’s forehead.

“Stop kissing me everywhere,” Kei ordered, but he meant none of the words he was saying. He sometimes felt bad when Kuroo was this touchy because it didn’t come as naturally to him.

Kuroo laughed like that was the dumbest thing he’d heard in his life. “You love that too, you already have two things that you can omit in your essay.”

When Kei was about to continue the stupid, fake banter they were having, there was a knock on the door. Normally, Kuroo’s mom would’ve just barged in the room, but then again, they weren’t about to complain about the fact that she was apparently learning some manners.

“Boys?” Came her voice, muted by the door that was between them. “Would you like to have some tea?”

“Huh, yeah mom, thanks,” Kuroo replied, but his tone was interrogatory, which meant they both thought the same thing: something was up.

“Can I open the door?” Kuroo’s mother asked, unsure, but obviously about to do it anyway.

Kuroo had a startled laugh. “It’s your house,” he said, and the door clicked open instantly.

She walked in the room with half shut eyes, looking suspicious of everything. “You moved from the living room,” she said like it was all she needed to say.

“Yeah,” Kuroo answered, unaware of where his mother was trying to say. “It sucks to cuddle on the couch.”

“Okay,” his mother replied, still clearly trying to figure something out. “I mean, I didn’t know if I should’ve... opened the door, I don’t know…”

If Kuroo didn’t have both of his hands busy at the moment, he would’ve face palmed. At least, he could always groan to express his disgruntlement. “Come on, both of you? What exactly is your opinion of me? Should I be offended?”

“Honey, you must know what this looks like,” Kuroo’s mom said with a naughty but motherly gleam in her eyes.

“Let’s make something clear: you should always knock regardless, and I respect you too much for that,” Kuroo exclaimed in a voice that sounded final.

His mother opened big, surprised eyes before she turned around to leave. “Alright, alright, big man. This house isn’t a church. I’m making chamomile tea.”

Once she was out of the door, Kuroo sat up in the bed and yelled: “Ew, mom!”

 

-

 

Was that his alarm? No, no, he didn’t work that morning, he started at 1pm. Was this Kuroo’s alarm? Was he even with him? Yes, he was, he’d slept at his place the night before. Essays and chamomile, it was all coming back to him. The noise was still happening, there was probably something he could do about that. He reached for his phone on the bedside table, guided by the noise more than his eyes that were still barely opened and also very nearsighted.

The light blinded him, but he was almost lucid enough to realise that his phone was ringing and that the person calling was his mom. Quickly, he answered the call and tried to move away from Kuroo as if it would keep him from hearing anything and waking up. He was already making small, offended sounds.

“Hey, mom,” Kei whispered in the phone, his voice all slurred and tired.

“ _Hi, sweetie! Did I wake you up?_ ”

Kei mumbled something before he caught himself as he was falling asleep with his face pressed against the phone. “Only a little.”

His mother laughed, clear and awake and everything that Kei was not right now. “ _Did your brother tell you?_ ”

“Yeah, yeah he told me,” Kei answered after he yawned loudly, taking the phone away from his mouth as he did so.

Something nudged his thigh and Kei looked down to see that Kuroo had rolled towards him and was now poking his thigh with his finger. “Who is that?”

Kei mouthed ‘my mom’ a second before she spoke again. “ _Oh, were you with your boyfriend? Did I wake him?_ ”

“I mean, yeah, but it’s 9 so we’re not mad,” Kei replied, and he shushed Kuroo when he looked like he was about to dispute that statement.

“ _Okay, you’ll say hi for me?_ ” His mother asked, but it was obvious that she was trying to get to something else. “ _So, I had an idea and since I won’t see you before October, I thought I’d come over for a couple of days to spend time with you and go around wedding dress stores._ ”

“I knew something like that was coming,” Kei joked, and his mother laughed guiltily. “When did you think of doing that?”

His mother made a ‘mmh’ sound, as if she was deep in thought. “ _When’s the next time you have two days off in a row?_ ”

“Next weekend,” Kei replied while Kuroo decided to use his thighs as a pillow, smiling up at him like a creep.

“ _Would that work for you? I don’t want to impose_ ,” his mother expressed with concern, probably aware that she could be ruining some plans if she came over for two whole days.

Tsukki sighed as he looked down at Kuroo, thinking about how he’d wanted to show him some of Tokyo’s most forgotten gems that weekend. He guessed it would have to wait for later. “No, it’s fine, I only planned to sleep a lot.”

“ _I’ll take advantage of the mornings to go dress shopping_ ,” she answered, giddy like a young girl.

“It sounds like everyone but the people who are engaged are getting married,” Kei mumbled into the phone, and Kuroo snorted a laugh as Kei’s mother asked “ _What?_ ” in the most adorably confused voice.

When she didn’t get any answer, Tsukki’s mom declared: “I’ll let you go back to sleep, but don’t oversleep, okay sweetie? It’s bad for you.”

“Yes, mom, I’ll be careful. See you soon.”

“ _Yes, soon! I love you honey!_ ” She sounded so cheery that it almost woke Kei up completely. Almost.

He smiled, and Kuroo was staring at him with a soft, tired gaze. “Love you too, mom.”

“ _Okay, bye!_ ”

“Bye,” Kei replied distractingly, and when his mother ended the call, he put his phone back on the bed side table and lied down with Kuroo, looking at each other in the eyes for about 10 seconds before he felt the exhaustion win him over again.

He closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek against Tetsurou’s shoulder, falling asleep in the morning light while Kuroo rubbed his back soothingly. Kei hated being woken up, but he loved lazy mornings like this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry if this was a long wait for barely anything, but I'm trying
> 
> The next chapter will be called "The Dark Room" ;)
> 
> I'd be so happy to know what you guys thought of the chapter, because lately I've been feeling like I lost a lot of people along the way and it makes me so fucking sad, you have no idea
> 
> See you! xoxo
> 
> (also rip my job at the photo lab 2012-2016)


	27. The Dark Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me while I was writing this: oh dearie me.
> 
> Ps. It's 6:30 am why am I doing this to myself

School was about to start again and it was all that Kei had been able to think about for the past couple of days. He didn’t know if he looked forward to it or if he dreaded it, but there was a feeling of unease enwrapping him that would probably stay with him until he’d begin the first day of his second semester. He tried not to worry too much, but he didn’t have much control over that.

That Friday morning, he was trying to think about something else entirely to get his mind off useless things. As he rode the bus to work, he let his mind wander, taking him anywhere it wanted until it would go back to only school, school, school, as if to mock him.

One single text from Kuroo succeeded to distract him from his uncomfortably plaguing thoughts. All it said was “Tonight?”, but that was all it took. With all the volleyball games and the dinners and the hours at the store, they’d barely had time to see each other at all that past week. Kei felt a little needy, and he missed spending his free nights with Kuroo. They’d also never gotten the chance to see each other in another context than a simple hangout with Kuroo’s mom in the background or a short visit at the store in the past week.

So, okay, maybe Kei was planning to get into Kuroo’s pants that night, but who could blame him? It had been a while.

Problem is, he ended up thinking about it all day, from 12 to 9, with hardly any breaks. It was even worse than the school stuff, he felt like a horny 15-year-old with a one track mind. He’d never been that kind of person so he felt somewhat shameful even though he was the only one who knew how dirty his mind was being.

Kei was trying to breathe and control his situation when 9pm hit and his phone rang with a new message from Kuroo.

 

**[21:00] Tetsu**

What time should I come over?

**[21:00] Kei**

I’ll be home in 15 minutes

**[21:00]**

You can catch a bus in 5 minutes

**[21:01] Tetsu**

Do I need to be ready for anything?

 

 _Well, alright_. There was no point in fearing to be found out now, Kuroo obviously shared some of his expectations. It still made him mad though, how easy Kuroo seemed to think he was having it.

 

**[21:03] Tetsu**

Kei?

**[21:04]**

Babe?

**[21:05]**

I’m heading out the house now

**[21:06] Kei**

Sorry, got kind of carried away

**[21:06] Tetsu**

What do you mean?

**[21:07] Kei**

This is going to be forward

**[21:07]**

Fuck I can’t say that

 

Now that he had sent the message, he couldn’t back down. He had to say something, he had to find something, anything that sounded better than what he really meant to say. Knowing Kuroo, he’d probably be overjoyed by the bluntness, but Kei really wasn’t that kind of person so he was holding back. He’d probably been thinking for too long anyway, nothing good was going to come out of this if he didn’t find something to say quickly.

 

**[21:09] Tetsu**

What’s up?

**[21:09]**

You know I’m always ready for anything, I’m not forcing you

 

That sweetheart, that _fucking sweetheart_.

 

**[21:10] Kei**

Yeah I know that

**[21:10]**

I was kind of hoping we could

**[21:10]**

Thought about it all day

**[21:11] Tetsu**

All day?

 

Kei could hear the teasing way Kuroo would’ve sounded if he’d said that to him face to face. It was disturbing how well he could make up his boyfriend’s voice inside his head.

 

**[21:11] Kei**

Yeah…

**[21:11] Tetsu**

You’ve been pent up like that ALL DAY?

**[21:11]**

Tell me you’re still at the store

**[21:12] Kei**

I am but I was just heading out to catch your bus

**[21:12] Tetsu**

I’ll be there in 30 seconds you just stay right where you are

 

Tsukishima stared down at his phone, standing still in the middle of the client’s area. Getting off the bus now would only make it that much longer to go home and get on with things, not that that was all Kei wanted to do, but patience has limits.

After he shook his head to regain a semblance of levelheadedness, he looked up to see Tetsurou running up to the store and using the locked doors to kill the momentum of his sprint. With a severe frown, Kei walked up to the doors to let him in and he was instantly tackled by a deep, assured kiss. The door clicked shut behind them, but Kei wasn’t hearing anything over the beat of his own heart in his ears and the little grunt that escaped Kuroo’s lips. Miraculously, Kei regained some composure when he remembered that they were in front of huge, see-through doors, so he put both of his palms on each of Kuroo’s shoulders to get him to back off a little bit. “What in the world are you doing?” he asked, out of breath but pleasantly surprised under the layers of consternation. He knew he sounded blissful instead of angry, but did it really matter?

“I’m baking a pie, what does it look like I’m doing?” Kuroo answered sarcastically and as fast as he could before he grabbed Kei’s face between his hands and kissed him again. After a short moan of surprise, Kei let his hands go limp, barely clinging to Tetsurou’s shirt as he was being pulled closer to him. In another display of self-control, Kei suddenly stepped away from Kuroo and physically kept him at an arm’s length. That man was dangerous.

“We should already be on the way to my place, this is just making me…” Tsukki tried before he realised that he couldn’t finish that sentence. He couldn’t text it, let alone speak it out loud.

Kuroo grinned and tried to get closer, but he was still being pushed away by Kei’s hand. “There’s no time for that when you’ve been wanting this _all day_.”

Kei glared at him furiously, which for Kei meant “a notch over the pissed-off face”, according to Kuroo. “If you think it’s this hilarious, you can just go back home and I’ll take care of myself,” Kei said as he gave Kuroo a small shove that barely shook him.

“Babe,” Kuroo answered in an almost-scolding voice, “I didn’t get off that bus to _wait_.”

Was that dumbass really expecting to do anything right there? In this shithole of a workplace that was all open spaces and huge windows with a cold and humid back store and an isolated _dark room..._ Oh no, better not indulge in that stupid idea before he’d start thinking that it wasn’t even that bad.

Too late.

“Here?” is all that he replied before he got swept up in another kiss, deep and bruising from what he could tell by the tingling on his lips.

“Here,” Kuroo mumbled against his lips. “Are the cameras off?”

Kei backed away a little, catching Kuroo’s head between his hands to keep him at a distance. “The cameras don’t work, they’re only there to scare people.”

“Good for us,” Tetsurou whispered against his lips, and then he was kissing Kei again, the blond’s hands falling weakly from his face like he had finally given into it, accepting the genius in this awful plan.

For good measure, it’s Kuroo who broke the kiss that time to ask if they should move away from where eyes could see them. “Come on,” Kei said in response, taking his hand and dragging him to the small door that lead to the dark room.

“Is that a closet?” Kuroo asked curiously, eyeing the door like he could not believe that this was his life.

“Kinda,” Kei vaguely answered, unlocking the door and leading the way into a small room with a chair and a desk in the corner and no light switch anywhere in sight. When the door closed after them, they found themselves in total darkness and Kuroo reached for the back of Kei’s shirt to ground himself.

“Oh,” he gasped, pulling lightly on Kei’s shirt. “Is this the creepy room where you develop film?”

“I guess you could say that.”

Since he couldn’t see anything, Kei hadn’t expected to be spun around like he’d been right after he’d stopped talking. “I can’t see a damn thing,” Tetsurou said so close to Kei’s face that he could feel the vibrations of his voice on his skin.

“That’s the point of these rooms,” Kei replied just as close, taking a hand to Kuroo’s cheek to guide himself. Moving his hand from his cheek to his chin, Kei tilted Kuroo’s head up and found his mouth with his own, only needing to move a little to the side to get it perfectly. They both closed their eyes on instinct, but the hands that were suddenly in Kei’s hair made him feel like he didn’t need eyes to know where they were. Kuroo’s touch and smell overwhelmed him, so much that he only realised they’d been moving when his back hit the wall. The hands moved from his hair to his back, and then low enough to slide underneath his shirt.

Kei shivered at the coldness of Kuroo’s hands, and that, mixed with the dizziness that came along losing one of his senses, made him feel like he was melting on the floor. It was almost enough to make him forget about his settings, but the constant buzzing coming from the other side of the wall made sure he wouldn’t be able to. This must’ve been the kitchen of the next door restaurant, and that buzzing sounded a lot like a dishwasher. These walls were stupidly thin.

~“Kuroo,” Kei whispered after he broke the kiss to breathe, “we’ll have to be quiet if you’re serious about this.”

“Of course I’m serious,” Kuroo exhaled all over Kei’s neck, speaking even quieter than he had been. “Have you seen yourself?”

Kei wanted to laugh at how dumb that sounded at that exact moment. “As a matter of fact, I haven’t.”

“Getting stuck on technicalities,” Kuroo mumbled irritably, a short second before he grabbed both of Kei’s thighs and lifted him up just a little bit. Standing on his tip toes, Kei sent Kuroo a stinking look in the dark. “There was a table somewhere here, wasn’t there?”

“On the right,” Kei answered, still confused and getting very close to having a cramp in his right calf. Kuroo pulled up a little harder and Kei yelped when his feet left the ground and he was clumsily dropped on the table that Kuroo obviously thought was higher than it really was.

Kei winced, but it really hadn’t hurt, he’d just expected it to. “Nice, you didn’t break my coccyx,” Kei teased right after Kuroo settled between his legs and dragged him closer to the edge of the table so their pelvises would be aligned.

“My delicacy is legendary,” Kuroo replied in a tone of voice that implied an accompanying wink. “You’re heavier than I thought, I’m gonna have to work out a little more.”

Kei circled Kuroo’s waist with his legs and he closed them low on his hips. “Expecting to do this more often?”

“Definitely,” Tetsurou said in an airy whisper, attempting to pull Kei even closer than he already was. “If that’s something you’d like,” he added, his lips moving dangerously close to the other boy’s ear.

Kei smiled at how that made him shiver from the back of his neck down to the dips of his spine. “I’m not against it.”

It felt funny, talking with Kuroo like this without seeing his face, so low and secret that it felt like they weren’t allowed to say whatever they were saying. Kei almost understood the thrill there was in having public sex, but he’d never understand people who fantasised on getting caught. He’d die if that ever happened to him, but right now there was no real risk, so he was able to relax far more than he’d expected.

One of Kuroo’s hands left Kei’s hips, coming up to cradle the side of his face instead. Knowing approximately where his neck was now, Kuroo moved forward and pressed his lips to the side of Kei’s jaw, kissing down until he’d feel his throat move underneath his lips. His pulse was surprisingly calm, but it just gave it a mellow feeling when Kuroo focused on it, pressing his tongue on the tender skin and feeling the soft beats vibrating on his lips.

Kei’s legs lost a little bit of their rigidness around Kuroo’s hips, but his arms were holding tighter around his shoulders. He knew he was pulling Kuroo downwards with him, but he couldn’t help it, and Kuroo followed until he couldn’t reach anymore, so he switched to kissing Kei’s collarbones, and then the little sliver of skin that he was able to discover by pulling his shirt at the bottom hem. Slowly, Kuroo put both of his arms around Kei’s waist to lift him up, holding him close as he did and finding his lips to give him a squishy-faced kiss, which was almost too cute for the situation they were in.

Kuroo’s hands slid from Kei’s back to his hips and, finally, to the front of his pants where he undid them as he deepened the originally sweet kiss. Once that was done, Kuroo didn’t waste time with teasing, pressing a hand flat to Kei’s stomach so he could fit it behind the clothing that was still in the way. Kei moaned weakly in Kuroo’s mouth, which he answered to with a harder kiss and a playful nibble of Kei’s lower lip. With Kuroo’s other hand holding him down at the hip, Kei couldn’t push for the pressure he wanted, but he didn’t have to sulk for too long. Instead of getting him off in his pants like Kei had thought he’d do, Kuroo took him out of his underwear and dropped to his knees. The suddenness of the heat leaving his lips felt a little strange, but it was soon replaced by the warmth of Kuroo’s hand going up and down his shaft in an achingly slow pace.

Tsukishima could feel Kuroo’s hot breath on his thigh, so he knew where he’d suddenly went. After a short laugh, he asked: “Are you really gonna do that?”

“We can’t make a mess, can we?” Tetsurou replied, all dark and suggestive.

He hadn’t thought of that. There were no tissues there, and they still had to walk outside and take the bus to go home after that. Kuroo was right. “Okay, yeah, but I’m starting to think that you have a fixati– Oh God.”

Kuroo’s lips closed around the head and sucked the tip in, so Kei decided to keep his mouth shut because if he didn’t, the whole restaurant next door would know what was happening in there. He wanted to tell Kuroo to be quick so they could get out of there, but he wanted to feel like this for so much longer, surrounded by darkness with his limbs half-asleep, with only this vivid feeling in the pit of his stomach to keep him alert. All he could focus on was the cold air he was gasping in and the excellent weight that was all around him, taking him in again and again.

There was no way this was going to last as long as he wanted it to. Well, there was a part of him that wanted that, and the other part was just trying to get there as soon as possible. The duality of a man.

Kei found Kuroo’s hair relatively easily, mainly because he knew pretty accurately where his head was, but also because it was pretty difficult not to know where Kuroo’s hair was, even in the dark. The slight pull had Kuroo humming appreciatively and Kei had to pinch his lips very tight so he wouldn’t let any sounds out.

On some kind of whim, Kei bent his legs at the knees and framed Kuroo’s body with them, as if to get him stuck there. Kuroo grabbed Kei’s legs and propped them up on his shoulders, like that was a normal response to this situation. It probably looked pretty extra, but since they couldn’t see anyway, they weren’t going to let that stop them.

That seemed to fire Tetsurou up and all Kei could do was to mutter a very heartfelt “ _Fuck_ ” under his breath and hope for the best. He barely had the time to warn Kuroo, heaving a small, alarmed sigh as he pulled a little on his hair, but it’s not like Kuroo was going to back off anyway. It was just civil to warn people, at least that’s what Kei had heard. From the little bit he had heard. Which was not much.

Kuroo swallowed around him and Kei had to slap a hand to his mouth so he wouldn’t whimper a little. He felt water prickling at the corner of his eyes and he had to make use of some serious self-control when he felt the urge to clench his thighs on the sides of Kuroo’s head. He didn’t know where this roughness was coming from, but he had a feeling that Kuroo wouldn’t hate it.

Kei took his legs off of Kuroo’s shoulders once he took his mouth away, squeezing his eyes shut as to enjoy those last seconds of relief. Kuroo stood up and wrapped his arms around Kei’s waist, swaying from left to right just a tad bit, which meant he had a shit-eating grin on his face. “You know I’m not done with you, right?”

Kei smiled and laughed silently, facing down so he wouldn’t face Kuroo’s smile even though he was just making it up in his head. “I had a feeling, yeah.”

“Let’s get you home then,” Kuroo said a little too sweetly to convey what he’d wanted to.

“I’m gonna fix my pants before,” Tsukishima said like Kuroo had assumed that they’d take the bus in their current situation. “You should fix yours too.”

“You can’t even see!” Kuroo protested like he couldn’t believe anyone would ever think he could be having a little problem on his own.

Kei succeeded to grab Kuroo’s face with both hands and kiss away his pout. “Just a feeling I had.”~

 

-

 

When they walked out of the bus, around 5 minutes away from Kei’s apartment, they heard the distant sound of thunder a little further into the city. Instantly, they stared at each other alarmingly and got ready for the literal storm that was coming.

“You have to be fucking kidding me,” Kei muttered way too loud for the amount of people that were walking on the sidewalk right next to them.

“Come on, let’s get our cardio going,” Kuroo said ominously while he took Kei’s hand in his.

Kei looked down at their intertwined hands and then back up at Kuroo’s face. “What?”

Then Kuroo started running and Kei had no other choice but to follow, smiling at how amused Kuroo seemed to be. Barely 5 seconds later, the rain started pouring down like a shower at maximal pressure, and they were both soaked in less than a minute. “IF WE’D JUST GONE HOME RIGHT AWAY THIS WOULDN’T BE HAPPENING TO US!” Kei had to yell to be heard through the rain.

“EXACTLY!” Kuroo yelled back, laughing like this was the best day of his life. The positive energy was almost contagious enough to get Kei to laugh as well, but all it did was make him smile against his will.

The apartment building appeared in front of them like the magical entrance to Narnia and they rushed in like kids who are competing to get to the computer first. Once they were in the lobby, they stood there like two idiots, dripping on the carpet while they looked at each other disbelievingly. The ride up in the elevator was weird, since they were both trying not to laugh for some reason. Once they walked into the apartment and took their soggy shoes off, they finally broke down, laughing and holding onto each other like they’d just came back from a fight for their lives and they couldn’t believe they’d both made it out alive.

“This entire thing was crazy,” Kei said in the middle of his laughing fit.

“It really was,” Kuroo replied, and as his laughter died down, his touches became more loving and he ended up hugging his boyfriend firmly in the middle of the entryway, humming into his ear happily.

Kei let himself be hugged, wrapping his own arms around Kuroo’s middle and enjoying the ride. He rarely enjoyed hugs, but Kuroo’s hugs were always the exception.

“Let’s change and go to bed, I’m dead,” Kuroo declared as he put his head down on Kei’s shoulder.

Kei moved away just a little bit and stared at Kuroo’s face questioningly. “What happened to ‘not being done with me’?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Kuroo slurred, letting all the weight of his head rest very hardly on Kei’s shoulder which would’ve been endearing if it hadn’t been such a bother.

Kei smiled to himself, looking away from what he could see of Kuroo’s face. “Okay, tomorrow morning,” he said like he didn’t believe a word of it.

“I swear to God,” Tetsurou kept on speaking indistinctly, “I’m going to fuck you senseless, you won’t even believe it.”

“You won’t do any of that,” Kei said, ending his sentence sharply.

“Wha-?” Kuroo asked, lifting his head up from Kei’s shoulder to glare at him like a kid that got his candy stolen.

Kei smirked at him devilishly. “I’m gonna do that.”

Kuroo’s confusion switched to understanding in a millisecond and his mouth opened and closed dumbly, much like a fish out of water. “Re-really?”

“You did say we could…” _switch_ , Kei tried to explain, suddenly unsure.

“Yeah! Yeah I did! And I meant it, I did, I just didn’t know if you really wanted to try that,” Kuroo caught himself, feeling very awake at that moment.

Kei shrugged, looking at Kuroo a little sheepishly. “Yeah, I did.”

Kuroo just smiled at him with some new light behind his eyes just before he made a face like he remembered he was tired. “Okay, I’m cold as fuck, let’s change clothes.”

Kei smiled as he rolled his eyes, taking Kuroo’s hand and taking him to his bedroom. They changed quickly, getting into bed quietly and looking at each other like they had a new secret, which they sort of did.

“Today was fun,” Kuroo said with half of his face buried into his pillow, a huge grin stretched on his face.

“Today was insane,” Kei corrected with a little silly smile.

Tetsurou chuckled as he reached for Kei, holding him close even though it was madly hot in that room. “Tomorrow morning,” he mumbled, and it had Kei sighing deeply next to him.

“Yes, tomorrow morning.”

“I love you,” Kuroo whispered next to Kei’s ear like a promess.

“I love you too,” Tsukki replied with a soft smile, feeling like he was going to fall asleep pretty quickly regardless of the heat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DID THAT
> 
> I've actually had that idea like a year ago on christmas. Yes, this is the kind of idea I get in the middle of a christmas dinner.
> 
> Don't tell my mom I wrote this
> 
> Next chapter is called "Tokyo" I don't know if this helps probably not
> 
> I wanted to thank you guys for all the comments on the last chapter, they really helped me go through this horrible month. September has not been nice to me, but you all made it fine. I hope that this story and the people that read it can continue to be my lighthouse in the middle of a storm. I know, I'm a part time poet.
> 
> Love ya xxx


	28. Tokyo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [I don’t know what exactly happened but I know for a damn fact that I made two chapters into one and I split a couple so I should be down to 31 chapters but I keep calculating using my planning sheet and it’s still 30? For some reason? So yeah, if you were wondering why the number of chapters is back to 30, it’s because I can’t count. Everything I need to write will be there, don’t worry. If I absolutely need one more chapter to wrap things up, I'll add it again.]
> 
> Hello to you all! I feel like it's been years since I've talked to y'all here in the notes. I've been doing quite alright in University, for example I thought I'd screwed up an essay and I ended up getting 87% on it while a friend of mine didn't even pass... don't worry, I didn't rub it in her face.
> 
> But it's making me very anxious and it is extremely. demanding. time. wise. I know that none of you ever get mad at me when chapters take a while, and I am so grateful for that. You guys are the best readers I've ever had, I'll never thank you enough for being so kind and understanding.
> 
> I've also gotten a new job! Finally.  
> You'll never know where.  
> Maybe you guys know.  
> That I used to work in a photo place much like our dear Tsukki. (That's where the inspiration came from, just throwing that in the wind. Half of this story was written in the photo lab.)  
> And maybe you also know.  
> That in my other story (which I'm so late on continuing, so so so sorry).  
> I made Takeda work in a shoe store.  
> I found a job.  
> In a shoe store.  
> I'm a very dedicated writter, you see.
> 
> Anyway, after all this useless blabber, have a good read! This is quite a long chapter.

Strangely enough, the train ride to Miyagi wasn’t as bad the second time as it had been the first time. Kenma was way less nervous than he’d been the first time, and he didn’t know if it was because of the trust he’d gained in Shouyou or that thought at the back of his mind that said it couldn’t be worse than the last time, but he was happy to get a little break.

When he walked out the train, his eyes locked on a patch of orange in the middle of the crowd. Shouyou started pushing people around to get to him, moving his legs uselessly as if he was about to start running at any moment, but he didn’t have the room to run anywhere. When he finally got to the front of the landing stage, all he could do was look up at Kenma and smile like a kid on Christmas morning.

“Hey Shouyou,” Kenma said with the smallest, cutest smile on his lips. He couldn’t control his face when Hinata was looking at him with those huge eyes full of light. He had really missed that.

“Hi,” Shouyou replied, all innocent and excited.

Shouyou was buzzing a little, clenching his fists to gain some self control. After taking a deep inhale, he took Kenma’s hand and helped him through the crowd, walking a little slower than he’d been before. Once they were out of the train station, Shouyou didn’t let go of Kenma’s hand, and even though they didn’t speak much on the way to the house, the constant touch made it feel unnecessary to talk.

Shouyou’s house wasn’t very far from the train station, and since it was around 9am and that his parents were at work, the house was empty and silent. Kenma shut the door behind himself after he walked in the house and when he turned back to look at Shouyou, he was tackled in one of the most desperate hugs he’d ever participated in. Who was he kidding, it _was_ the most desperate hug he’d ever participated in.

He melted into it like he’d been waiting for it his entire life. Kenma had heard somewhere that human beings were not supposed to stay away from each other so much, they were supposed to touch and be in contact most of the time, which kind of freaked him out. He figured he was getting his refill of touches for the next hundred years.

They’d been hugging each other for an abnormal amount of time when the sound of someone clearing their throat to interrupt people was heard through the kitchen. Kenma’s eyes shot open and he was about to walk away when Shouyou drawled: “Bye, Natsu.”

“Mmh,” Natsu answered, sounding all smug like she had all the power in the world. They heard her walking away, so they kept hugging even though Kenma wasn’t so comfortable anymore.

“Don’t worry, she’s literally been harassing me about asking you out for like… months.”

Kenma’s surprise manifested in a small head movement that also expressed his interest in the matter. Hinata seemed to catch all of that, because he giggled a little, clear and adorable.

“I didn’t even need to tell her, she’s a witch and she read my mind,” he explained in the cutest way possible, and Kenma found it incredibly rude. How could he be so cute so easily all of the goddamn time?

“But months?” Is all that Kenma got out with his voice sounding rusty from keeping his mouth shut for too long.

Shouyou only laughed like that was the most obvious thing in the world. “Oh, I missed you so bad.”

Kenma felt like he was about to cry, or scream, or fall unconscious. “I missed you too.”

It had been quiet and subdued, but he’d also never held back so little in his life.

 

-

 

Kuroo had just gotten out of the shower a couple of minutes ago, and after he’d put the bare minimum amount of clothing back on, he came back into the bedroom on his tiptoes so he wouldn’t make too much noise and wake Tsukki up. It would’ve completely ruined his plan.

When he opened the bedroom door, he did it so slowly that not a single sound was heard, but he could see more and more to the other side of the room where Kei was sitting on the side of his bed with his phone against his ear. It was barely 9am, there weren’t a lot of people who would call at this hour. Instinctually, Kuroo froze and waited at the door where Tsukishima couldn’t see him.

“You’ve got it all wrong,” Kei said irritably, controlling the volume of his voice so he wouldn’t be heard by anyone else except for the person on the other end of the phone. Kuroo hated intruding in people’s privacy, but this was worrying him. “I’m not giving you an ultimatum, I’m stating a simple fact that’s been true for years. Wherever dad is, I’m not. If dad’s at your wedding, I won’t be at your wedding, it’s as simple as that, and if you think I’m just saying that to make you choose between us –“

Kei grumbled a little, angry at being interrupted, but Kuroo could tell that he was holding back many more emotions. His brother replied something that had him hiding his face in his free hand.

“Even if I didn’t take him, you really think dad would just stay in a corner and act like I’m not there just because you asked him nicely?”

Kuroo clenched his fingers around the door frame, frowning a little as he looked at Kei from the other side of the room. That’s a conversation he’d been dreading, but he knew that it had to happen one day. He would have never thought that it would be that morning.

“Okay,” Kei replied a little harshly after he sighed once more, getting more and more irritated by how hard to understand his point seemed to be. “So you thought I’d just never tell him? You think I’m gonna live my life hiding constantly? No – No! That’s what you seem to be thinking, but I’m sorry if I’m wrong.”

Kuroo bit his lip uncomfortably, taking on step forward into the room. He needed to stop this before Tsukki would really get angry at his brother.

He stopped moving as soon as he saw a tear roll down Kei’s cheek. He decided not to interfere, because Kei had things to say that were not going to come out if he didn’t do it right now, and Kuroo had no right to stop him from doing that.

“You know,” the blond started, his voice a little choked up, “I was thinking of writing dad a letter to let him know everything, and I was hoping I wouldn’t have to see him again after that. You may think it’s selfish, but I think it’s way more selfish of others to force me to hide a part of myself for their own benefit.”

From what Kuroo could hear, Akiteru sounded a little angry too. Obviously, they were both hearing what they wanted to hear from this conversation because they were unnecessarily fired up.

“You want to take that risk? I know you think I’m hard on dad, but if you knew all the things he’s told me, you wouldn’t even let him… look, I know I shouldn’t have expected you to leave him out, but–“

Kei was a little calmer now, listening to his brother while he took deeper breaths. Kuroo felt so sorry that this was even an issue, but he was confident that they’d find a way to fix it.

Tsukki sniffed, letting his head fall forward a little as his phone slid off his ear by a centimeter. “Just the ceremony? And you’ll have him sit on the other end of the room? You really think that’ll be enough?”

Akiteru seemed to be reassuring him and that made Kuroo feel a little better. If they could sort this out on the very same day that it became an issue, it would almost be too good to be true.

“Kick him out yourself?” Kei said disbelievingly, laughing a little through his words like he was hearing the most ridiculous thing ever. Kuroo took this as his cue to let his presence be known, mostly because he was getting impatient from just standing there, but also because the crisis seemed to have been averted.

With the agility of a cat, Kuroo got on his knees on the mattress and crawled closer to Kei. Gently, he put both of his arms around Kei’s neck, leaving his hands flat on his boyfriend’s chest and whispered: “I’ll help.”

Kei flinched rather vigorously, but he sighed in relief when he saw that it was just Kuroo who was grinning at him, looking suspiciously proud. To let it be known clearly that he wasn’t asking for immediate attention, Kuroo put his head on Kei’s shoulder and let him continue his conversation with his brother in peace.

“Anyway, I doubt you’ll get him to agree, but tell me if you do,” Tsukki replied to his brother like there wasn’t much use in talking about this anymore. “He’ll probably think he’s got some unresolved business with me and he won’t give a shit about what you made him swear.”

Kuroo frowned worriedly as he stared at Kei’s eyes from way too close. He still couldn’t hear what Akiteru was saying on the phone, but it sounded a lot friendlier than it did a couple of minutes before.

“Well, if you think you can do it, I won’t stop you,” Kei mumbled a little, seemingly trying to get done with this conversation quicker.

Akiteru either got the message or he simply didn’t want to keep him on the phone much longer this early in the morning, because the conversation wrapped up quickly and soon enough, they were saying goodbye to each other. Kei took the phone away and ended the call while Kuroo pressed his face to the side of Kei’s neck and breathed in.

Tsukki hummed contently as one of his hands reached to disappear in Kuroo’s hair. “He called out of no where, I didn’t know how long you’d been in the shower.”

“’t’sokay,” Kuroo spoke against Kei’s skin. “He’d just thought of that little dent in the plan, did he?”

“I guess,” Kei said as he shrugged, moving Kuroo’s head comically as he did so.

Tetsurou took his face away from Kei’s neck so he could look at him properly, just to make sure that he didn’t look like that phone call shook him more than he let on. “It’ll be fine though, right?”

Tsukishima weakly smiled at him, trying to reassure him as best as he could. “We never know, it might be fine.”

Kuroo twisted his mouth in a crooked line, trying to make his disappointment in Kei’s optimism very obvious. His boyfriend smiled more sincerely and gazed at him directly in the eyes.

“I’m sorry, I know this isn’t how you wanted us to start that day,” Kei apologized as if he needed to, looking down again once he stopped talking.

Kuroo wanted to slap him on the side of the head because of how stupid that was. “You don’t need to say that, it’s not like it’s your fault. The morning’s not ruined…”

“Kuroo…” Kei said on a warning tone, smiling through it because he couldn’t really be irritated by that boy. Everything he did was kind of cute and that was really becoming a problem.

“What?” Tetsurou whispered innocently right next to his ear, clearly grinning as well. “A promise is a promise.”

Kei chuckled a little, looking down at the floor for a second. “Sure, because that’s what you’re really concerned about and not the fact that you took a shower for this and now you’re scared you did it for nothing.”

Kuroo’s exhale sounded defeated, like he physically felt the burn. “Alright, I’ll admit to this much even though I gave _you_ a pass yesterday. I don’t really care if you changed your mind, I’ll just go back to sleep smelling better.”

Kei looked over his shoulder to stare at Kuroo, trying to find a way to let him know that he was still on board with the plan without making it look like he was giving in. It’s not like Kuroo was pressuring him anyway, but the things he could make Kei do just by begging with his eyes were often dangerous. “I feel like you’re the one who’s trying to find a way out,” Kei teased, mildly comfortable with what he was trying to do, but going for it anyway.

The absolute crass smile that stretched onto Kuroo’s face was instantly burned into Kei’s brain as one of the best thing he’d ever seen in his life. “Oh _yeah right_ ,” he started, sounding absolutely amazed by what he’d just heard, “you just don’t want to seem easy, I’m starting to know you well.”

Kei smirked at him like a smug teenager that you want to kick in the shins repeatedly. “Well, since you’ve got it all figured out, why aren’t you doing something about it?”

Kuroo only gasped at him with an unhealthy amount of pride in his eyes. “You’re a little shit, I hope you know that,” he announced right before he pulled Kei backwards to have him laying down on the bed. He wasted no time in caging Kei down with his thighs on either side of his hips, holding him firmly with both of his hands laying flat on Kei’s chest.

There was a short moment of complete silence when they only looked at one another as Kuroo slowly let his upper body drop until he was close enough to kiss his boyfriend. They did not start slow and soft like they sometimes did, because since there were no questions about what they were about to do, they just went for it.

After a while of very, very deep kissing, the kind that sends your brain swimming in a pool of goo, Kuroo pulled away to breathe heavily. Both of his hands came up to cup the sides of Kei’s face, holding him softly as he went to kiss him again, rolling his hips teasingly right when their lips met again. The kiss was as sweet as it was rough, engulfing them both into a strange haze that made them feel like time was slowing down. It was smooth, with warm breaths shared between perfectly angled lips that trapped each other languorously. The occasional pressure against Kei’s pelvis prevented him from only indulging into this kiss and nothing else. He was left a little drowsy from the abrupt way he had woken up, and since the kiss was slow and hot, it was more his speed.

Kuroo was pressing down on him a little more heavily and Kei thought that it might be time for them to switch positions, even though he didn’t know if that was right at all. Kuroo seemed to know what he wanted, so Kei decided to ask him directly instead of worrying about doing something wrong. After breaking the kiss but staying close enough for their lips to brush while he talked, Kei asked: “Are you… do you want to stay like this?”

He felt Tetsurou smile against his own lips. “I do like that idea, yes,” he whispered in the narrow space between their faces and bodies. Kei tried to digest what that implied, but he was having a hard time.

“Alright, huh, good,” he replied clumsily, putting some more distance between their faces as he tried to back away more into the pillow.

Kuroo grinned again, but curiously this time, like he had just gotten an interesting clue that put some pieces of an investigation together. “Where has yesterday’s confidence gone?” he spoke in an exhale, getting closer to Kei’s face just before he kissed him on the cheek. “You got me so stunned for a moment that I almost gave up my precious sleep for you.”

Kei had to chuckle a little because that was just too typical. “Well, I guess it was a limited time offer.”

Kuroo suddenly sat up straight, looking down at Kei with the perfect look of a disappointed spoiled child on his face. Kei could only smile cheekily, burning every single face that Kuroo was making into his memory.

“Don’t pout like this while you’re sitting on me, it feels wrong,” Kei told Kuroo, a slight disappointment to his voice making him sound like he was reprimanding a mediocre employee.

Tetsurou rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his face immediately after. He bent down over Kei’s body and let his lips ghost over his cheek, close to the blond’s ear. “Are you sure you want to? You’re not only doing this because I’m irresistible, right?”

It was Kei’s turn to roll his eyes and glare, and he knew that even though Kuroo couldn’t see it from that close, he still had a very good idea of what kind of face he had on.

After a warm blow of air near Kei’s lower lash line, Kuroo smiled against his cheekbone, all gentle as usual. “Legit question, though,” he said somewhat seriously, attempting to clarify his negative ideas and get clear consent all at once.

“I thought you knew me well enough to know,” Kei replied, acting childishly while he still could. It was way too funny to resist.

Kuroo sighed loudly and backed away from Kei’s face just a little so he could look into his eyes. “Babe, work with me here,” he pleaded, even though he guessed that that answered his question. Tsukishima only joked like this when he was comfortable.

Kei shared the gaze for a couple of seconds before he looked away and pinched his lips to keep himself from smiling mockingly at Kuroo’s face. “Well,” he started as he tried to control his unsolicited amusement, “isn’t lust a great basis for this kind of thing?”

Kuroo’s eyebrows shot up and a quite interested expression popped up on his face. “Good point.”

“I don’t mind doing it because you worked me up,” Kei attempted, since it made him sick that Kuroo thought he was being pushy. “I did that to you a couple of times.”

The grin that broke on Tetsurou’s face was way too warm for Kei’s heart to handle. “You did. I liked it.”

Kei smiled back, but it was a little more held back. “Then it’s mutual,” he admitted, and the volume of his voice got significantly lower. That new shift brought back the atmosphere from before and soon enough, Kuroo’s smile shifted into something softer against Kei’s lips.

They picked up from where they’d left of rather quickly, but it was going much more smoothly. Self-assured, Kuroo officially took the reigns when he started rolling his ass with purpose as Kei gasped into his mouth. He must’ve been a little surprised by the sudden change of rhythms, but Kuroo still took a lot of pride into the sounds that he was able to get out of Kei’s mouth.

It kept on going like this until Kei felt his shirt stick to him with how warm his skin was getting, and he realised that he’d been so lost into the sensations and the kiss that seemed to have sent him in a trance that he was a lot closer than he should’ve been. He broke the kiss suddenly and took a deep, startled breath before he tried to speak.

“If you actually want to get going with anything,” he said in a breathy voice, “you should slow down.”

“Sorry,” Kuroo replied with his lips hovering Kei’s neck. “I don’t know why, but you always make me want to rush.”

Kei exhaled harshly, wondering how Kuroo could say things like that without thinking about what they would do to Kei’s mortal body. “Moving on, then,” he hurried, catching Kuroo’s attention instantly. The boy raised his head like he’d just been yelled at and there was a heat in his eyes that did something low into Kei’s stomach.

“Yes, absolutely,” Kuroo rushed to say as he sat up and moved his hands to Kei’s jog pants that he’d worn to bed. “Can I…?”

Kei nodded twice before he answered, needing these pants to be off as fast as possible. “Yeah, take ‘em off.”

Just when Kuroo had fit his hands underneath the elastic band of both the pants and the underwear, there was a light knock on the front door. Kuroo stopped moving, but he kept his hands in place as he waited to know if it had really knocked there and not on the neighbour’s door. It was the absolutely disturbed look in Kei’s eyes that made him take his hands off.

“Oh God.” Kei’s voice sounded like he was beyond the point of dead inside.

Kuroo frowned at him, getting a million ideas of who could be on the other side of that door at once. “What?” Tetsurou asked intensely.

“That’s my mom.”

“Your… your mom?”

Well, at least it wasn’t his dad. Or dangerous men that he owed money to.

It took a single second before they were both standing up next to the bed, ruffling the sheets of the bed and every surface of the room, looking for clean clothes to wear.

“Yes, shit, she told me she’d come over and I told her it was fine but I totally forgot, oh my God,” Kei babbled as he ran to his dresser and picked a shirt and a new pair of underwear.

Kuroo was jumping around trying to put his pants on, and it would’ve been funny in any other circumstance. “Okay, chill, we’ll… I don’t know, try to think about something gross.”

Tsukishima turned around to look at him like he was absolutely crazy. “No, I’m not seeing my mother like this, I need to take a shower. Cold.”

Kuroo sent the same look back, shrugging to show that he was completely clueless. “Well you can’t just leave her in the hallway for fifteen minutes,” he replied, a little outraged by what had been implied.

“I could if you went out and told her to wait…” Kei said as he was obviously delusional. He just hoped it could be fixed easily, wishful thinking and all that.

“Are you kidding me, don’t you think she’d get the worst ideas?” Kuroo wanted to laugh at what he was hearing, but it wouldn’t do any good, no matter how ridiculous it was.

Kei turned to look at him one more time, but he looked significantly less angry. “You’re right… let her in, that way she’ll think that we take our showers separately and that we’re… virginal.”

As Kei made his way from the bedroom to the bathroom, Kuroo’s stunned gaze followed him. “ _Virginal_ ,” he whispered back, completely taken aback by that statement. He finished dressing up and dissimulating what he could before he walked out of the room and stopped in front of the bathroom door. “You really want me to greet your mom? A guy she’s never seen, who she maybe doesn’t think that fondly of-“

“Shut up, my mom loves you,” Kei interrupted him from the other side of the door.

Kuroo rolled his eyes and started moving his hair around to get it to do something less weird than it usually did. “But you want her to think that we don’t fuck and that I’ve never had sex with anyone, which is a lot of things to hide to make sure that she keeps liking me.”

He could hear Kei sigh from the inside of the bathroom. It was adorable and insufferable. “Can you please get the door? Please?”

“You’re goddamn lucky that I have more love for you than I have respect for myself,” Kuroo railed as he walked to the end of the hallway and into the living room. He had to do this, there was no way out. Except for the window. But the fall would kill him.

There was a second knock on the door and Kuroo almost jumped out of his skin. “She’s knocking again, what do I tell her first!?” Kuroo hoped that he was keeping his voice loud enough for Kei to hear him, but not his mother.

“I don’t know, be casual,” Kei yelled back, and that was the lest helpful advice in existence if Kuroo was the only one to judge.

“ _Casual_ ,” Kuroo chorused like that was the one strangest thing he’d heard all morning, “sure, you little shit, _SURE_.”

He took a deep, deep breath before he walked to the door and grabbed the handle. At least he wasn’t hard anymore. That was a small victory.

He opened the door in one _casual_ swing, trying to keep up a façade like he thought he belonged there for some reason. He didn’t want Kei’s mom to think that this situation was as strange as he did.

“Oh,” the woman said when her eyes met with Kuroo’s. She was quite a small woman in every sense of the word and that instantly set a fear of God into Kuroo’s guts. If Kei’s mother was barely 5 foot 2 and looked like she weighed a hundred pounds maximum, then his father was probably as tall as his sons and as built as Akiteru. They’d never be able to kick him out of the wedding. Kuroo tried to stop his train of thought from derailing further when Kei’s mother smiled sweetly. “Hello. I’m here to see Kei?”

“Huh, yeah, yes, he’s in the shower, I’m Kuroo.” He wanted to wince at how jerky that had been. “Tetsurou,” he added at the last second.

The air of absolute amazement that lighted up on the woman’s face like Christmas lights made Kuroo a little less nervous. “It is so nice to meet you!” she exclaimed happily. “You’re just like Kei described.”

That was intriguing. Kuroo stopped thinking for a second and squinted at Kei’s mother. “Oh? What did he say?”

“That you were not as tall as he was,” she said flatly, like it was supposed to be obvious but that it was also kind of a joke. It reminded him so much of Kei’s self-depreciating jokes. He tried not to let his unsettlement show.

“Ah.”

She then laughed, a clear sound that sounded a lot more like Akiteru. “Don’t worry, he didn’t tell me much, you must know how he is.”

Kuroo looked down at his feet for a second as he composed himself before he looked back at the woman. “Hmm, yeah, I guess I do,” he replied hesitantly.

“You are a handsome young man though,” she said in this strange motherly way that made it okay to say things like that, “I don’t know why he didn’t mention anything about that. He likes boasting a little from time to time, although he doesn’t like people knowing that he’s boasting…”

Kuroo absolutely loved how she seemed to be trying to describe Kei to him. “Did you want to… walk in? I mean, it’s not my place, but I don’t think he would mind his mother… being inside his apartment…”

A soft hand squeezed his shoulder in a reassuring way and he looked down into the woman’s eyes. She had such a warm gaze that half of his stress volatilized. “Yes, of course, thank you.”

She took her hand away before she walked in with a soft smile, heading for the living room. She sat on the couch and dropped her bag on the floor next to it, unzipping it to look for something inside.

Kuroo closed the door and walked to the living room awkwardly, suddenly heading for the kitchen when he decided that it would be less weird for everyone involved if he didn’t try to talk more.

“Do you want tea or coffee?” he asked from the entrance to the kitchen.

Kei’s mother lifted her head up and looked Kuroo’s way with a polite smile on her lips. “Tea would be nice, thank you.”

Kuroo turned around and entered the kitchen before he whispered “ _Well, I’m having coffee_ ,” to himself in one of the deadest voice he’d ever used.

Once he’d put some water to boil and had taken cups out of the cupboards, Kei’s mother walked up to the kitchen and stood in the entry with a shoulder against the wall. “You seem to know your way around here pretty well,” she said, apparently interested by that fact.

“Oh, well, yeah,” Kuroo replied as he poured hot water in the cup over the tea bag, “I guess I do.”

“That’s great,” she assured Kuroo. “I’m happy he has someone around here once in a while,” she added, and Kuroo didn’t think he’d hallucinated that sad shift in her smile.

He took the cup and handed it to her in the most comforting way he could think of. He had no idea how to communicate to someone that they didn’t have to worry so much about something that you simply couldn’t not worry about. Especially as a mother. “There you go, it’s green tea.”

“Thank you,” she replied with a short nod before going back to the living room and sitting on the same spot of the couch.

Kuroo realised that he didn’t hear the shower running anymore while he was making his coffee. He’d just finished mixing his cream and sugar when he heard the door unlocking and Kei walking out of the bathroom. He decided to stay in the kitchen while he went to say hi to his mom, simply because he didn’t think that he had any business being there.

It only took a couple of seconds before he heard an excited shriek followed by an enthusiastic “Sweetie!”. He looked at them from the kitchen as they hugged and he smiled when he noticed how even smaller she looked in her son’s arms. This thought set off a weird chain of thoughts that lead to him hoping that Kei hadn’t been too big of a baby. He probably had.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were dating such an handsome boy?” Kei’s mother asked, which made Kuroo smile into his coffee before he took a sip.

Kei scoffed once, walking a step away from his mother. “Because then you would’ve said that my description didn’t do him justice.”

Kuroo knew that Tsukki was just teasing his mother, but being the centrepiece of this teasing was strangely uplifting. “Come on, I can’t be that good looking,” Kuroo chimed in, interrupting the two who spared him a glance. Kei was trying to glare, but the amused smile on his lips was ruining it. His mother, on her side, seemed to be overjoyed.

Kuroo raised his cup in the air, and Kei rolled his eyes before he looked back at his mother. Kuroo went to sit at the table while the two were being reunited, drinking half of his coffee in one sip on the way there. Once he was seated, it didn’t take long before two arms enveloped him on either side of his neck, hugging him close around his chest.

“I’m sorry,” Kei said close to Tetsurou’s ear. “Are you alright?”

“Mmh?” Kuroo muttered as he turned his face toward Kei’s. They were a little too close to each other, and Kuroo knew that Kei’s mom was watching from the living room, but he had a hard time caring about it. “Yeah, I’m alright. It’s not your fault, you just forgot,” he answered, giving a little more than what was asked from him. They were speaking so quietly that it probably looked like they were sharing classified information.

“I know, but I’m still sorry,” Tsukishima replied, hugging Kuroo a little tighter.

“Rain check?” Kuroo asked with a sly smile. Kei stared at him with a look on his face that Kuroo had learned to associate with “ _you never stop, do you?_ ”.

After a long sigh, Kei let go of his hold but he stayed hunched over Kuroo. “Obviously,” he answered once they couldn’t see each other’s eyes. Kuroo grinned down into his coffee again.

“I’ll go home after this so you can spend the day with your mom,” Tetsurou announced as he designated his coffee with a little nod of his head.

Kei’s hands left Kuroo’s chest and stalled at his shoulders. “Come back tonight?”

Kuroo looked over his shoulder before he gave his answer. “Yeah, of course.”

 

-

 

Kenma was sitting on Hinata’s bed, and Hinata was sitting between his legs, looking down at the DS in Kenma’s hands. After he’d had a while to get used to how they were cuddling, Kenma almost forgot how awkward it had been to sit like this in the first place. Now that it was done, he had to admit that he kind of liked having Shouyou’s thighs as arm rests and his shoulder as a place to prop his chin.

His level of focus on the game was around 15%, but Shouyou’s was super intense. He really seemed to like watching Kenma play, but he also didn’t seem to be the kind to freak out when he had more than one contact point with someone else.

When Kenma got tired, Shouyou agreed to take over, so they laid back more comfortably together. Kenma had his back flat on the wall and Shouyou had his head just underneath his left shoulder. It would take a couple of minutes to get used to, but Kenma was impressing himself with how chill he was.

He closed his eyes and angled his face toward the ceiling. It helped a little, to just feel and smell Shouyou close to him. Soon enough, he felt like he’d been doing this all his life. He only opened his eyes again when Shouyou called his name curiously.

“Yes?” Kenma asked when he opened his eyes and noticed that the DS was laying flat on the bed and that Hinata was looking up at his face quite eagerly.

“I was talking with my friend Kageyama and we decided that it might be better if you guys met, it doesn’t have to be like a super intense thing, but since he’s my best friend I wanted him to see you, even if it’s only once, I just want… I don’t know, I want everybody to be happy.”

Kenma had listened very carefully, like he was always trying to do when Hinata started to ramble. He didn’t know what to think about what he’d just heard, but he agreed with Hinata. It was just better when everybody was happy. “Hum, I’m, huh, you know I’m not the best with new people…”

“I’ll do all the talking! I won’t stop talking, I’ll take care of that for you if you want, I don’t mind.”

Kenma nodded once, but he still wasn’t sure about this. It would be awkward no matter what, but maybe it needed to be done. “I know you’ll help me, I trust you.”

Hinata’s eyes lighted up like he’d just been told a very heartwarming story. Kenma didn’t know what to do about such a face, and he also had no idea of what would follow it. Shouyou turned his upper body toward Kenma as much as he could before he grabbed both of his shoulders and pulled him down to kiss him. It didn’t even last a full second, but it was enough to stun Kenma.

Hinata was looking at him with big guilty eyes, but he also seemed to be rather confused. “I’m sorry, that was rude, but can you say that again?”

“Wh-what? Say what? That I trust you?”

“Yes,” Shouyou approved before he stood up on the bed and sat back down, facing Kenma this time. “Can I do that again please?”

Kenma felt like he might regret what he was about to say, but then again, would it really be regret or embarrassment? Probably more of the latter. “You don’t need to ask.”

He was pulled down again.

 

-

 

They’d left a note on the table if Kei’s mother happened to wake up while they were gone. Kuroo had initially been saving this day for some sightseeing and since he knew a place that was better at night, he thought that they’d use the hours they had the best they could.

After a short bus ride to a more remote part of the city where there was way less light pollution, they walked for 5 minutes before they got to an enormous glass dome that seemed to be surrounding a strange indoors park.

Kei had first thought that they wouldn’t be able to get in, but they didn’t seem to lock any doors at night. Kuroo explained that it was never locked since it was like any other park, but Kei had never seen anything like this before.

Once they were inside the glass dome, Kei looked up to the sky and understood why this place was better at night. The glass reflected the night sky all around, making it look like they were surrounded by darkness and stars. The moon was shinning at the top of the dome, half full and bright like Kei had rarely seen it.

The place was completely empty, and it made the park feel so much more intimate and secret. They sat down in the grass and looked up at the sky, almost feeling like they were stuck in a glass snowball.

They watched the stars shine faintly and the clouds move for a while before anyone spoke. Kei was still looking at the stars when he said: “How can you know so many stargazing spots if I’m your first boyfriend?”

Kuroo turned to Kei, smiling at him like he couldn’t believe he was getting teased for knowing great places where the sky was clear. “I took my own self on dates. I’m very romantic with myself,” he replied sarcastically, which got him a click of the tongue as an answer.

“Anyway, I’m happy you know them, because this is very calming.”

Kuroo propped himself up on his elbow to look up at Kei. “You’re stressed?”

“Are you kidding me,” Kei replied darkly, “all I’ve been thinking about is going back to school, it’s like I’m waiting for my execution.”

Kuroo bit his lip nervously, scooting closer to put an arm around Kei’s shoulders and pull him closer. “I know how it is, but it’ll be fine. I’ll help you even more than I did last semester, it’ll be very different from the last one. I’ll be with you the whole time, you’ll get tired of me.”

Kei glanced at Kuroo’s face with a sorry look in his eyes, but when he saw how serious he was about this, he couldn’t help but smile at him. “Thank you,” he murmured right before he pressed a kiss to Kuroo’s temple.

“Anything for my stars and moon,” Kuroo replied, obviously aware of how cheesy it sounded because of the stupid grin he had on his face.

“Seriously?” Kei asked, trying to stay serious, but he couldn’t help smirking back at Kuroo after a while.

Kuroo held Kei closer, taking his second arm to hold him around the waist. “We’ll get through it all. The semester, the wedding, your cockblocking mother, everything.”

Kei couldn’t hold his laughter in anymore, but he only chuckled a couple of times before he calmed down. Kuroo was staring up at him with a proud look in his eyes.

“I love you,” Kei declared spontaneously. Kuroo had one smug face on after he’d heard that, smiling bright and wide at Kei like it was the first time he’d heard it.

“I love you too,” he answered before he pulled Kei as close to his chest as possible so he could bury his face in his boyfriend’s neck. “Is your mother going to look at dresses tomorrow?”

“Yeah, why?” Kei asked so slowly and calmly that it probably sounded like he was about to fall asleep.

Kuroo took a deep breath into Kei’s neck, breathing out hot air on his skin. “I need to show you more things.”

“Things?”

Kuroo smiled at Kei’s slightly hopeful tone of voice. “Tokyo things. But other things too, if you want.”

Kei rolled his eyes and wished he had a pillow to throw at Tetsurou’s face. “I’ll go sightseeing with you, but I think we should wait until we’re sure we’re 100% alone until we try… that again.”

Kuroo nodded with his chin on Kei’s shoulder. “It sucks, but you’re right.”

They cuddle for a little while longer before they started thinking about going back home since the last bus would come around very soon. Right before they were about to get up and leave the dome, Kuroo took his phone out of his jeans pocket and opened snapchat. “We haven’t even taken a picture together since we’re… well, together. I think this is the perfect time, with the sky reflecting in our eyes and all. It’s very aesthetic.”

Kei frowned at him, completely unimpressed. “As long as you don’t make me put it as my profile picture, it’s fine.”

“I intend to kiss the hell out of you on that picture, so unless you want to be outed to the world, I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Kei smiled sarcastically at him, which almost made Kuroo happier than a real smile would’ve. “If you want the sky to reflect in our eyes, that means we’re gonna kiss with our eyes open?”

Kuroo replied with the same fake smile. “Okay smartass, no stars in the eyes then.” He stretched his arm so the phone would have them both in the frame and he took the picture a couple of seconds into a soft and chaste kiss. When they moved away, Kuroo winked and Kei sighed dramatically.

“You better not set this as a wallpaper,” Kei warned his boyfriend as they were getting up to leave.

“I’ll just print it and make a shrine to it,” Kuroo joked, and he succeeded to get a smile from Tsukki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *screams into the night*
> 
> How was that? Tell me in the comments! I die every time I get a comment. The good kind of dying.
> 
> ONLY 2 CHAPTERS TO GO! THAT MEANS WE GOT UNTIL CHRISTMAS IF I KEEP THE SAME RYTHM LMAO.
> 
> No seriously, never estimate how long it'll take you to finish a story because... you'll be wrong.
> 
> I started this story in December 2015, so this is almost a year of my life. I've only started two other works in the meantime, and I've posted both of them. This is literally all I've been continuously writting for an entire year. It took longer than a baby.
> 
> In all seriousness, I've never felt more uplifted and blessed in my life. Writting has always been something that I've loved doing and I've been glad to share it with you for a whole year. Because I can at least swear that I won't be done before December.
> 
> I love you all xxx  
> [Sandgoddess](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/)


	29. The Big Get Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s up guys! I’m almost crying right now writing this… I’ve just finished my plan for chapter 30 and I’m almost ready to start planning my dialogue but I can’t because I’m too emotional. This is my baby. I feel like I’m losing my baby. To the internet Gods. Bye bye baby.
> 
> You can probably tell that I’m really affected by this. Anyway, let’s go with chapter 29 for now, a chapter that changed names at least 30 times while I wrote it.

Never in his life had Kuroo closed a door so slowly and delicately. Kei’s mother was sleeping on the sofa bed, which she had insisted on since she knew that Kuroo was sleeping over and she was too much of a sweetheart to make him sleep in the living room, so now they had to be super careful. They walked in almost like robbers, shushing each other for the most minor sounds and ending up making more noise than they’d originally made. They took their shoes off as they stared at each other, daring the other to make a sound and ruin their efforts. Once they were done, they walked down the hallway wincing at every crack of the boards until they got to Kei’s room and escaped into safety.

As Kuroo took another good 30 seconds to close the bedroom door quietly, Kei went to the other side of the room and started changing. When Kuroo turned around, he instantly smiled and walked up to Kei. “I think those are my favorite,” he whispered, just loud enough to be understood.

“Your favorite what?” Kei asked just as quietly while Kuroo caught up to him and hugged him around the waist.

All Tetsurou did was pinch the elastic band of Kei’s briefs so they’d snap back on his hip. He had a smug smile on his face that Kei would’ve kissed away if he hadn’t been so horny. He did not trust himself for a second, not even with an innocent kiss.

“You think you’ve seen enough of them to have a favorite?” Kei replied smugly, making it sound like a challenge. “There’s a couple you’ve never seen on me.”

Kuroo only grinned bigger and nastier. “Can I have a fashion show?”

Kei clicked his tongue irritably, but it did nothing to lessen Tetsurou’s hopes. “Maybe when my mom’s not in the next room,” he said sarcastically, but Kuroo would still hold it against him if he decided to change his mind.

“There’s a lot of things we’ll need to do when your mom won’t be in the next room,” Kuroo joked, but all it got him was an eyeroll.

Kei swept him away with the t-shirt he’d intended to change into, so Kuroo stepped away with a small laugh of surprise. “Keeping me half naked isn’t going to do any good,” Tsukishima declared as he sent his boyfriend an intimidating glare.

“By all means,” Kuroo whispered sweetly, sitting on the edge of the bed and lying down with both of his hands underneath his head, “put on all the clothes you want.”

Kei sneered at Kuroo for a short second before he took his shirt off and put the new one on. He looked at his jogging pants that were folded on top of his drawer, but he decided not to bother with them. As he left for the bathroom, making very little noise and leaving the doors ajar, Kuroo followed him with his eyes, knowing damn well that this lack of pants did not happen out of laziness.

He waited for Tsukki to come back before he went to brush his teeth, winking at him when they met shortly in the doorway. When he came back to the bedroom, the lights were off and Kei was already in bed, looking at something on his phone. Since it was a pretty warm night and that Kuroo felt like it was his turn to be petty, he simply took both of his shirt and pants off and got into bed in nothing but his underwear. Kei side eyed him with this stinking stare of him, but Kuroo only answered in a sly grin.

Kei put his phone and his glasses down on the bedside table before he turned around to face Kuroo. He’d looked like he was about to say something but he held back, choosing to share Kuroo’s soulful stare in the eyes instead.  

“You don’t look tired,” Kuroo commented, and although Kei felt a joke coming about his usual sleepiness, he still shook his head yes and shrugged.

“It’s still relatively early,” the blond explained as if it was painfully obvious and didn’t need to be questioned.

Kuroo grinned cheekily at that. “I have an idea.”

That was overly ominous, and that was never, never a good sign. “I think I’m gonna go share the sofa bed with my mom,” Kei threatened, but that only made Kuroo smirk again.

“Let’s tell each other things we’ve never said,” Tetsurou explained in a very soft and loving way, like he couldn’t be more invested in that project. Kei’s eyes widened in understanding, surprising himself as he realised that he didn’t hate that idea. There was always something left to share. “I’ll start if you want.”

“Go ahead.”

Kuroo seemed to think for a couple of seconds before he picked up his courage and put his plan into action. “I once had to ask Daichi for help because you were confusing and I knew he knew you,” he admitted, almost like it hurt him to do so, but it was also clear that he found that fact to be so ridiculous that it was funny. Kei looked like he agreed, having to bring a hand to hide his mouth so he could stifle his spontaneous laugh.

As his boyfriend kept mocking him, Kuroo couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Okay, okay, it’s not that funny, I was genuinely concerned for you… and you’re still laughing.”

Kei had to take a couple of deep breaths before he stopped feeling the urge to start laughing some more. “You’re actually as sappy as I think you are, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Kuroo replied with such adorable pride. “Your turn now.”

Kei’s expression went a little more serious as he thought about what he could say. “Hum, I go to Hosei, on Koganei campus. I don’t think I’ve ever told you that.”

“No, you’re right, I didn’t know that. Which is kind of strange.”

Tsukki only shrugged again. “You never asked.”

Kuroo’s indignant sigh turned into a short laugh when he came to terms with how absurd but how very _Kei_ that reasoning was. “Alright, uh, I made that photo album thing up because I wanted to see you more often.”

“I had that much figured out,” Kei teased as his lips stretched in a cute half-smile.

Kuroo looked at Kei with surprised wide eyes, like he could not believe the mild sass he was getting. “Yeah? You think so?”

“Well, at first I thought you needed a friend, but then you asked me to study with you so I thought that’s what you kept coming back for, until you made your intentions clear enough,” Kei explained in such a sweet way that Kuroo felt the urge to pull him into a tight hug. They’d have time for that later.

“My intentions to build a strong relationship with your moody ass,” Kuroo specified, and he must’ve sounded like a total goner for Kei not to glare even a little bit.

Instead, the corners of his lips quirked up a little higher. “You did a good job,” Kei praised his boyfriend, forgetting to keep up the friendly banter.

“Oh, yes, a ten men job at least,” Kuroo replied, apparently refusing to let Kei go easily.

Tsukki couldn’t hold it anymore, he had to turn his face and grin into the pillow, thinking about how absurd it was that he loved this joke of a man. Once he got control over his facial features again, he was able to look at Kuroo without cracking a smile. “Really, ten?”

“You’re right, eleven,” Tetsurou added just before he playfully winked at Kei. “But really, I love how you don’t take any of my shit, you just slap me back across the face with it. Takes quite the temper to do that.”

That time, Kei did not shy away from smirking nastily. “I think you haven’t been slapped across the face enough in your life,” he declared, feeling proud of his remark.

That turned out to be a grave mistake.

“You trynna get kinky?” Kuroo’s eyes got clouded by something that one could only describe as pure mischief. After being rough housed a little by a quite disheveling hug and a face full of disgustingly wet kisses, Kei pushed Kuroo away as he laughed nervously in a strangely silent way.

“Goddammit, stop that,” the blond pleaded while the traitorous tremors in his lips were trying to make him smile. Kuroo didn’t listen, because he’d had enough of holding back today. He’d know when to stop, but even Kei was enjoying this despite his half-hearted protests, so he wouldn’t stop just yet. 

As Kuroo was aiming to press a kiss to Kei’s lips, his boyfriend mumbled “Don’t start” against his lips. After a quick smirk, Kuroo didn’t even have to move because Kei kissed him first. That’s all he had to know about the quality of Kei’s restraints.

It was such a simple and sweet kiss, yet it made their chests swell with the same kind of overwhelming pressure that came along a panic attack. They had so much to let out, but they just _couldn’t_ and it was driving them mad. When Kei broke the kiss, he was breathing fast and hard like they’d just kissed for 15 minutes with hardly any breaks. “You heard me?” he asked as if he wasn’t the culprit.

“Yeah I did. You didn’t hear yourself,” Kuroo ended with such a soft expression that it almost made Kei shy. He still couldn’t believe he got to be looked at like this.

And there Kuroo went again, kissing Kei with the most tenderness and care so that they wouldn’t regret going to a place where they shouldn’t have later. Kei turned his head to the side so he’d be out of Kuroo’s range after a short minute. “Kuroo, really, stop.”

Kuroo hummed over Kei’s cheek before he moved away just a little so he could speak clearly. “No, that’s not how you call me,” he said with a look of both playfulness and fondness.

“Alright, asshole,” Kei replied with a straight face. Kuroo’s body shook a little as he tried not to laugh out loud, but soon enough, he was looking back into Kei’s eyes all expectantly.

The blond sighed before he touched his forehead to Kuroo’s neck. “Tetsurou,” he whispered in a steady exhale, and that felt like a warm breeze in Kuroo’s heart.

“Yes?” Tetsurou asked with his lips stretched in a smile and his voice so quiet that Tsukishima would’ve needed to read on his lips if he’d said anything else.

Kei really liked how smooth the atmosphere had gotten between them, but he was about to ruin it just for fun. “Were we done with the shameful truths? I kinda enjoyed laughing at you.”

Kuroo sighed exasperatedly, but it quickly turned into a silent giggle. “We can be done, I can’t think of anything else right now anyway,” he replied, so Kei took this as his queue and cuddled up closer to Kuroo so they could sleep face to face.

They let many seconds pass with just their breathing to fill the silence, letting the sleepiness take them over. Kuroo opened his eyes to look at Kei’s peaceful face a little before he’d try to sleep for good. “Love you, fuckface,” he said in one last murmur.

“Mmh,” Kei mumbled in acknowledgement, “love you.”

They fell completely silent after this, holding each other loosely with Kei’s face still pressed on the side of Kuroo’s neck. Slowly but surely, they got accustomed to the summer heat and started to fall asleep at the same pace, until Kuroo remembered something that shook him out of his slumber.

His realisation gave him some tremors, much like when you dream that you’re falling down a set of stairs and you wake up in a panic. It shook Tsukki up a little too, and he was staring at Kuroo with these confused and unfocused eyes, asking for an explanation.

“Sorry, I totally forgot something that my mom told me to tell you. When I came home this morning, she asked me why I was home early so I told her your mom was in town and now she wants to meet her. She’s being weirdly intense about it.”

Kei took a short breath and sighed it out. “Let them meet,” he replied, his voice low and slurred.

Kuroo moved around a little to lean on his elbow and look down at his boyfriend. “You think that’s a good idea?”

“I don’t know,” Kei said candidly, and it was followed by a small shrug. “What could they talk about that would be _so_ bad?”

Kuroo lied back down on his side, wrapping one arm around Kei’s waist and pulling him closer. “You’re right.”

“Your mom’s nosy, but she’s not mean. She won’t talk about stuff that makes us uncomfortable,” Kei continued, running a soothing hand in Kuroo’s messy hair.

Tetsurou grinned into the pillow, feeling the same warmth from earlier enwrapping his heart. He loved when Kei started talking to fill the silence when he felt that Kuroo was anxious.

“Also my mom’s a prude, so…”

Kuroo hadn’t expected that, so he snorted with sudden laughter pretty loudly and got punched on the arm for making noise.

 

-

 

Kuroo’s phone started ringing while Kei and him were eating breakfast. When he saw Kenma’s name on the screen, he frowned and stood up from the table instantly. Kenma was back at Hinata’s place for the weekend, and we could say that Kuroo did not adore getting phone calls from his best friend when said best friend was over at Hinata’s house. These calls did not have an history to end well.

He asked Tsukki for a moment while he left for the bathroom, the closest place he could find that had a door he could lock. He accepted the call and brought the phone to his ear.

“Ken?”

“ _Kuro,_ ” Kenma whispered frantically in the phone, “ _help me, I don’t know what to do._ ”

Kuroo gritted his teeth and walked further into the bathroom. “What did he do?”

“ _What?_ ” Kenma replied, sounding genuinely confused. “ _No, he didn’t do anything, that’s the problem._ ”

Kuroo was caught between calling Kenma out for scaring him or continuing to be worried about this other problem that he didn’t know about. “What do you mean, that’s the problem?”

“ _How do you do it? Being with Kei?_ ” Kenma asked his two questions with the type of desperation that Kuroo had rarely heard.

Kuroo chuckled into the receiver, wondering how Kenma could even think about comparing his relationship with Shouyou to Kuroo’s with Kei, as if they were anything alike. “Dude, I told you you don’t need my help, the guy’s crazy about you.”

“ _That’s not what I’m talking about_ ,” Kenma said, his voice becoming a little harsher. “ _I think I…_ ”

Kuroo waited, because that’s what he did with Kenma. He waited until he was sure he had to give a push.

“ _I think I love him_ ,” Kenma admitted at last, whispering so close to the phone that it gave Kuroo the same uncomfortable feeling as when someone’s whispering in your ear.

Tetsurou grinned at his friend’s declaration, but it’s not like he didn’t know. He had rarely seen Kenma so enthralled in someone, it couldn’t have been just a crush after all this time. “That’s great, Ken.”

“ _No_ ,” Kenma exclaimed in agony. “ _I don’t want to do this_.”

 Kuroo sat on the edge of the bath, taking his phone in his other hand. “You don’t want to tell him or you don’t want to be in love with him?”

“ _Tell him_ ,” Kenma replied, and Kuroo was happy to hear it. He wouldn’t know how to deal with this if it had been the other option. “ _How did you do it?_ ”

“Oh, well,” Kuroo said as he thought back on it, “we’d been cuddling and stuff and I was just really, like, overwhelmed by how much I loved him so I said it?”

“ _And what happened?_ ”

Kuroo grinned when he thought about Kei’s total lack of answer, but that beaming smile on his face after Kuroo had said it. “He kissed me, he didn’t answer until the next week.”

Kenma sighed into the phone, and Kuroo wondered if he’d expected something more difficult. “Look, Ken, you’re freaking out about your own feelings and that’s fine, but don’t worry about Hinata’s, for fuck’s sake. Wait for him to tell you first, I’m sure it won’t take too long.”

“ _You think so?_ ” Kenma asked with way too much surprise and Kuroo wondered if he was even aware of who he was dating.

“I know so,” Kuroo said back, and even though it wasn’t much to go with, he knew he was right.

Kenma sighed again, but it was less tense than before. “ _It’s scary. Dating_.”

Kuroo smiled and looked down at the tiles of the bathroom floor. It sure was. “It will be more fun than scary eventually, don’t worry.”

“ _You know I’ll worry anyway_ ,” Kenma joked, sounding a little more light-hearted than he had before. “ _I’ve been in the bathroom for 15 minutes, I should probably get out before Shouyou wonders if I’m dead_.”

“You’re hiding in the bathroom?” Kuroo laughed at the similarities between their settings.

“ _I was freaking out_ ,” Kenma replied like it explained everything. Kuroo scoffed and shook his head a couple times.

“Get out of there and stop wasting your weekend,” Tetsurou told his best friend, using his scolding voice so Kenma knew it was an order.

Kuroo could hear the squeak of the porcelain when Kenma stood up from wherever he’d been sitting. “ _Yeah, I’m going back_.”

“Alright, good luck,” Kuroo wished to Kenma, and the latter ended the call after answering with a small ‘ _Yeah_ ’. Kenma was so unconfident with social situations he wasn’t used to, and Kuroo actually didn’t mind helping him about it. It was rather easy to reassure him anyway.

When Kuroo walked out of the bathroom, Kei looked up at him with just a hint of an interrogatory expression on his face. Kuroo knew just how curious he must’ve really been, so he sat at the table and got ready to tell him everything.

“Kenma,” he started, and he got an understanding nod from Tsukki. “He’s just realised he’s in love, poor child.”

Kei smirked as he brought his cup to his face and took a sip of tea. “Have you ever thought about the fact that this is kind of our fault?”

Kuroo grinned back, playing footsies with Kei underneath the table. “More than kinda,” he replied, beaming proudly at his boyfriend. He’d forever be grateful for Kei bringing Hinata over that one time, because now Kenma had found someone who was just about exactly right for him and that was allowing him to open up and really _be_ instead of pretending.

Kei’s eyes left Kuroo to look up at his mother who’d just walked over to them from the living room where she’d been watching the news. “So, what’s today’s match plan, boys?”

“Kuroo’s mom is going to wait for us at the mall, and Kuroo has a place to show me that I’ve never seen so we’ll let you guys get to know each other and visit wedding dress stores or whatever,” Kei explained, shrugging at the end to show how little he actually cared about what his mother was going to do. He really couldn’t be bothered by this wedding.

His mother leaned on the corner on the wall and made a face at him. “Alright, frowny pants.”

Kuroo’s gaze was shifting between Kei’s mom and the boy himself, smiling at the both of them. “Frowny pants,” he repeated with a huge smile on his face.

Kei sent him a death glare and his mom went back into the living room, laughing like she’d just heard the funniest joke ever.

 

-

 

They’d just left Kei’s mother at the mall when Kuroo received a scarily long text from Bokuto. From what he could make of it by going over it quickly, Bokuto’s parents were going to look at colleges all over the country with his little sister on the next weekend, so he had the house to himself, AND Akaashi was free, which seemed to be the biggest incentive. There were also mentions of free booze and the possibility of inviting anyone they wanted, so of course Kuroo was interested, but he didn’t know if it was Kei’s type of thing.

“Bokuto just sent me a two-page text about hanging out together next weekend. Like, all of us. Kenma too if he wants to, hell, even Hinata if he can make it. Would you happen to be down with that?”

Tsukishima looked up from his own phone, frowning just a little which made him look adorable. “That seems like a good idea only in theory,” he replied dryly and it made Kuroo chuckle.

“Maybe,” Tetsurou said honestly, shrugging a little like it didn’t matter, “but it’ll probably be fun anyway and we can take anyone we want so you could invite your little friend.”

Kei squinted at Kuroo and walked in front of him to face him when they got to a crossroads. “My little friend?”

“Freckles.”

“Yamaguchi,” Kei corrected with a little bit of amused annoyance in his voice.

Kuroo grinned widely at him. “Yeah, exactly.”

“I mean, I don’t know if he’d like that, there’s probably going to be a lot of people that he doesn’t know, but I’ll ask him,” Kei explained, moving back to walk besides Tetsurou as they crossed the street.

“Does that mean you’ll come with me?” Kuroo asked with all the hope in the world.

Kei sighed deeply before he smiled sweetly. “Of course I’ll come with you, someone has to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”

Kuroo was happy with this justification, so they continued to travel Tokyo’s streets like tourists, stopping at places where you could access high balconies and get a breathtaking view of the city, or strange buildings linked by tunnels where the walls were covered in amazing pray paint art. They spent at least 2 hours travelling commercial streets, zig zagging between stands and people on delivery bicycles. Kei stopped in front of a stand that sold decorative pins with all sorts of pictures on them. The ones he was looking at had cartoon dinosaurs on them and it said ‘Dino friend’ on them, which was basically the definition of silly, but Kei thought it would be hilarious to have matching ones. Kuroo asked the lady at the stand how much they were, and since it was pretty reasonable, he got two and gave Tsukki the one with the green dinosaur.

They started heading back to the mall as Kei texted his mother so they’d find each other easily. They hadn’t ventured too far from the vicinity of the mall, so it did not take them very long to walk back there. Once they found their mothers, the women were in a deep conversation together, sitting on a bench with a coffee in their hands and shopping bags at their feet.

“Had fun, ladies?” Kuroo asked after a sudden laugh bubbled out of his throat, happy to see the two women getting along so well.

Kei’s mother looked up at them and smiled softly. “Oh, we just had the best of times, didn’t we?”

“Indeed,” Kuroo’s mother answered mysteriously, grabbing some of her bags before standing up. “Honey, could you help me with some of that?”

Kuroo looked down at the bags and walked a step forward to grab some of them. “Yeah, sure,” he said as he took most of the bags that were at his mother’s feet. Kei did the same with his mom’s bags while she looked at him with so much pride and warmth in her eyes.

They walked out of the mall and to the women’s respective cars to put the bags away, the boys telling each other that they would meet again tonight when they parted ways. As Kei’s mother drove back to his apartment, she seemed to be very smiley and bubbly, even more than usual.

“What’s up, mom?” Kei asked, way too curious about his mother’s giddiness to ignore it much longer.

She shook her head as she smiled, making it seem like it was nothing. “I’m just glad you met such a nice boy, sweetie. His mother told me so much about how he doesn’t shut up about you. That’s a boy in love, Kei.”

Tsukishima sat in silence for a least 5 seconds, feeling his cheeks get warmer and a smile stretching on his face. “I know,” he answered, looking at the road straight ahead.

 

-

 

**[20:12] Kei**

My mom’s packing her things and getting ready to go

**[20:13] Tetsu**

Omw

 

Kei was sitting on the living room couch, helping his mother fit all of her new clothes in her small suitcase. She hadn’t been supposed to go shopping, but she’d been influenced by Kuroo’s mother.

At the very least, she had a couple of wedding dress pictures to show Kei, and she made him pick his favorites so she’d know which ones to show Saeko. Happy with her son’s decisions, she took her bags and lined them next to the door so they’d be close when she’d leave. She came back to the living room to hug her son goodbye, telling him that she’d call him at least once a week when school would start again. After giving him a small kiss on the forehead, she walked to the door, picked up her bags and waited for Kei to open the door for her.

“See you soon, sweetie,” she said as she walked out of the apartment, obviously trying very hard not to cry.

“In a little more than a month mom, that’s nothing,” Kei tried to comfort his mother, making it sound like it wasn’t a big deal.

She turned around and smiled at him, pretending like she agreed with him. “You’re right,” she admitted before she turned around and started to leave. When she was about halfway down the corridor, she stopped abruptly and spun around almost comically.

Kei waited for what was going to come, whatever it was. His mother could be unpredictable when she felt up for it.

“You need a haircut, sweetie,” she added, and then she finished walking to the elevator and got inside with her bags, giving Kei one last nod goodbye.

Tsukishima walked back inside his apartment as he giggled at his mother’s comment, having almost forgotten how long he had let his hair get since the last time he’d seen her.

Now that his mother was gone, all he had to do was wait for Kuroo, so he walked aimlessly around his apartment, not knowing what to do with himself. There was a part of him that was just thinking _finally_ , he was going to get some alone time with his boyfriend and do what he’d been wanting to do since that agonizing Friday, but there was another part of him that felt so bad for wanting his mom to leave so badly. He’d make it up to her the next time he’d see her by doing the dishes every night or something like that.

Kei was going back and forth in his bathroom when he heard Kuroo open the door and rush inside the apartment, taking his shoes off like he was a kid who can’t wait to jump into a pool. Kei looked at him from the bathroom’s entrance, smirking at how silly his boyfriend looked in his hurry.

Kuroo came up to him and backed him up against the wall. “Hey,” he greeted him before he kissed him roughly, forcing his mouth open and deepening the kiss instantly. Kei moaned in Kuroo’s mouth, grabbing both sides of his head with his hands to keep him close, where he needed him to be, where he finally _could be_.

 **~** They took it to the bedroom without leaving each other’s lips, taking their shirts off before they got on the bed. Kuroo crawled on top of Kei, kissing and biting his neck around his shoulder blades and over his pulse point. Kei’s arms reached out to cross behind Kuroo’s neck, burying his fingers into Kuroo’s hair and speaking his name out loud, as many times as he wanted.

Kuroo moved up to kiss Kei’s cheek, his nose, his chin, anything he cared to kiss, and Kei giggled at how that sometimes tickled. “You know, it’s in moments like this that my mother would just barge back into the apartment because she forgot something,” Kei said a little out of breath, letting himself be kissed wherever Kuroo wanted to kiss him.

“Don’t jinx it,” Kuroo whispered between kisses, and Kei chuckled a little in response.

Kei held himself up on his elbows, putting his hands against Kuroo’s chest to push him away just a little bit so he could sit upright. Kei licked up Kuroo’s neck and the underside of his jaw until he got to the jut of it, biting around it just hard enough to leave teeth marks. He then moved to kiss Tetsurou with the same intensity they had before, letting his hands slide down between their bodies so he could undo Kuroo’s pants. Once he got the zipper down, he pressed his palms flat over Kuroo’s chest while the latter went for Kei’s pants, fiddling a little with the button.

 Kuroo broke the kiss and pushed Kei down, grabbing the hem of his pants to pull them all the way down, and then pushing them off the bed. He stood up to take his own pants off, coming right back to bed and straddling Kei’s lap, finally giving it some attention. Tsukishima exhaled in relief when Kuroo grinded down on him with a painfully slow roll of hips.

“Did you bring the stuff?” Kei asked when he succeeded to catch his breath, having trouble thinking straight when Kuroo looked like he was having so much fun just wiggling on top of him.

He nodded and smiled suggestively. “Yeah, I left it in your nightstand before I left this morning.”

“Give it to me,” Kei requested immediately and Kuroo stopped moving, tilting his head on the side in confusion.

“Already?”

“ _Yes._ ”

Kei was right, there was no time to waste, so Kuroo reached into the nightstand from where he was sitting on Kei’s pelvis and retrieved the lube and condoms. He then handed them to Kei and leaned over him.

“You’ve never done this before, have you?” Kuroo asked, but there was no judgement, he was simply making sure so he could guide him accordingly.

 Kei uncapped the bottle and did not let his eyes leave Kuroo’s gaze. “You know I haven’t,” he replied, feeling no shame whatsoever about it. He was a fast learner anyway.

Kuroo grinned at him, obviously being as impatient as Kei was. “Start slowly, I’ll tell you how I like it,” Tetsurou said while Kei took his free hand to his boyfriend’s rear and eased it underneath the elastic band of the underwear. He pushed it down slowly, leaving it halfway on to win some time.

He closed the cap with his thumb before he dropped the bottle next to them on the mattress, taking his clean hand to grab one ass cheek and spread them apart. With his slick index, he circled the ring around the entrance delicately, making his finger go in so unhurriedly that it almost felt like nothing was there.

Kuroo leaned forward gradually, putting his head down on the bed just over Kei’s shoulder, at the right height to have access to his neck. Kuroo kissed the warm skin underneath Kei’s ear, grinning all silly over his skin when he started pushing down on his finger. “Two,” Tetsurou breathed against the shell of the blond’s ear, noticing instantly how Kei’s breath got caught in his throat for a second.

Tsukishima used the same technique as before, easing his second finger step by step without forcing it in. Kuroo kept leaving kisses everywhere he could reach, using one of his hands to hold himself up while the other laid flat on Kei’s stomach, just a little bellow his belly button. He ventured lower, applying a light pressure from top to bottom over Kei’s briefs at the same pace as the fingers moved inside of him, synchronizing his ragged breathing with Kei’s.

“You’re so good at this,” Kuroo gasped, his left cheek squished against Kei’s right cheek. They were sticking together, their bodies just becoming warm enough to start sweating.

Tetsurou felt Kei’s smile on his skin, and it was the smug smile of someone who didn’t need to be told. “Would you be ready for three?” Kei murmured with his lips brushing on Kuroo’s face, letting his impatience and his lust turn his voice into something darker.

At that moment, Kuroo felt like he would’ve been ready for the whole deal if that’s what Kei had wanted. “Don’t be afraid to hurt me,” he answered, giving more than he was asked for. He knew his teasing worked when Kei had to wait a beat to collect himself before he brought a third finger to the party.

Kuroo turned his face to look into Kei’s eyes, letting him see his expression shift from arrogant teasing to stunned pleasure. His lips were ghosting over Kei’s, making him feel every deep inhale and surprised gasp up close and personal. Kei wasn’t being as careful as he’d been before Kuroo had fired him up, pulling his fingers out a lot further and sliding them back in much more deeply than before. Tetsurou’s breath was so short already and he felt hot all over, which Kei was painfully aware of.

Kuroo thought _fuck it_ and threw his hand under Kei’s underwear, taking him into his hand properly and stroking his length with a feather-like touch. Tsukki’s answer was to push a little harder with the tips of his fingers, teasing around Kuroo’s walls. Kei smirked proudly when Kuroo moaned, tightening his hold around Kei’s dick and stroking harder.

“Fuck yes,” Tetsurou exclaimed, his lips still touching Kei’s lips without fully kissing. Their breaths were hot on each other’s face, succeeding only to make them even more restless.

Kei huffed on Kuroo’s lips, feeling something that’s so way past overwhelmed that he didn’t even know what to call it. “What do you want now?”

Kuroo kissed Kei’s cheek repeatedly, going up his face until his nose was buried in blond hair. “You,” he answered, his entire body asking for more.

Kei took his fingers out slowly and watched as Kuroo moved to settle between his legs as he took his underwear off, throwing it at the other end of the room where it was much more needed. He also took Tsukishima’s briefs off, and he never would’ve thought that he’d want such a pretty thing to be off his boyfriend’s body so goddamn quickly in his life.

When he climbed back on top of Kei, he almost considered not bothering with anything and just getting it on right now, but the little voice of reason at the back of his mind was telling him that he’d have trouble walking the next day if he did that. Kei handed him a condom that he’d taken out of the box so Kuroo took it out of the wrapper and unrolled it on Kei, biting his lip the whole time. He grabbed the bottle of lube and emptied what was left into his palm, spreading it between his hands before he evenly coated the latex with it.

After one long, noisy exhale, Kuroo stood on his knees a little higher and angled Kei’s cock with his entrance, steadily lowering himself around it as his mouth fell open and he felt the burn of the stretch ripping through him so violently that he couldn’t keep himself from whimpering and humming appreciatingly.

Kuroo had his face turned to the ceiling and his eyes were shut as he allowed himself to feel everything that Kei could touch, everywhere he could reach. He had both of his hands on Kei’s stomach, letting his nails sink into the pale skin and leaving red marks behind.

Kei controlled his urge to thrust in deeper, taking the time to breathe and cool his head a little. He couldn’t disappoint Tetsurou now, not after already fucking it up once before.

Kuroo gave one swing forward, letting out a curse as he rolled his hips and let his shoulders slump forward, the tips of his hair brushing on Kei’s chest. He moved his hands next to Kei’s shoulders and put more of his weight on his upper body, leaning forward very closely to Kei’s face.

“Go ahead, baby,” Kuroo urged Kei to do what he’d been wanting to do so bad, and he did it, grabbing Kuroo’s thighs and thrusting up into him sharply. Kuroo gasped from the overabundance of sensations, staring into Kei’s eyes as he lowered himself to meet him halfway.   

They started slow, moving in synch with each other as they kissed distractingly, humming and sighing into each other’s mouths between every touch of their lips. Kei build up speed at a rhythm he thought was appropriate, panting happily when he heard Kuroo repeating _yes, yes, yes_ under his breath.

“How do you know how to do this so well?” Kuroo asked accusingly, his voice and his hands shaking alike.

Tsukki had to grin at him, slowing down a little bit when he felt a spark at the bottom of his spine that was not welcome just yet. “Something called… behavioral reflexes,” he said between his panting breaths, trying to sound smart even in moments like this. _Nerd in bed_ , he could hear Tetsu mocking him.

Kuroo chuckled in Kei’s neck, dropping most of his weight on his bent elbows instead of keeping it all on his hands. “I guess that’s just the instinct to fuck into stuff,” he replied crudely, still laughing because he couldn’t stop himself.

Kei had to shake his head yes because, yeah, that was about it. When more did not follow, Kuroo extended his arms again to look at Kei questioningly. “Taking a break, unless you want this to be over in the next minute.”

Tetsurou smiled darkly, sitting up on top of Kei and looking down at him like he was going to bring him hell. “Does it feel this good?”

“Don’t be all smug,” Kei warned just before Kuroo lifted his own weight and dropped it back, making him close his eyes painfully hard and breathing out a strangled and almost angry moan.

Kuroo did not move again, but he had a proud smirk on his lips. “I’ll be as smug as I want, mister can’t-even-last-2-minutes.”

Kei’s gaze turned evil in the beat of a second, pushing himself up with his elbows and holding Kuroo at the waist to stay up. “You know, for someone who jumped on me as soon as we were alone, I think you’re trying me a lot,” Kei said ominously, and the next second he was pushing Kuroo backwards and following him down.

Tetsurou had his eyes open wide in shock, but his expression changed to pure bliss a second later when Kei picked up things where they’d left them. Framing Kei’s hips with his thighs, Kuroo crossed his ankles behind Kei’s back to keep him right where he was.

Tsukishima thrusted harder, deeper, liking the control he had a lot more in that position. Kuroo was just sprawled on the bed like he was overcame by what was happening, gripping the sheets between his shaking fingers to get a hold of himself.

“I can’t fucking believe you,” Kuroo said with a daring smile, loving to be handled way more than he’d ever thought he would. He liked control, that’s why he gravitated towards topping more, but this, he could have this every day of his life without complaining.

Kei could see it on his face, how rarely he’d been in that situation before and how much he was liking it. He had both of his hands on either side of Kuroo’s shoulders, holding firmly as he picked up the pace again and went to kiss the gasp away from his lips. Tetsurou kissed back harder than Kei expected, leaving the sheets alone and bringing his hands to dig his nails into Kei’s back.

“Is it that good?” Kei asked teasingly while he was breathing heavily, and Kuroo found the presence of mind to send him a stinking look. Laughing lightly, Kei slowed down to a halt again and Kuroo let his legs fall on either side of their intertwined bodies.

Tetsurou was catching his breath, moving his hips a little in the meantime and making the smallest noises every time he felt it _nearly_ close enough. “Taking a break again?”

“Yeah, give me a second.” Kei let his body fall on top of Kuroo’s, holding him behind his neck and pressing his forehead to the top of his left shoulder. It was a lot more difficult than he’d thought, pleasing someone else without rushing into it and only pleasing yourself in the end.

Kuroo chuckled, hugging back with strong, possessive arms. “It’s alright, just keep doing what you were doing and I won’t be far,” he whispered in Kei’s direction. The blond sighed in frustration, wanting nothing more than to get to it right now. He took the time, breathing Kuroo in deeply and waiting for his lower half to calm down.

Feeling ready again, he gave one smooth shove, staying where he was all cuddled up to Kuroo like he needed to be protected from something. He didn’t go too fast, moving his hips deliberately slow without going as far as he could go. He heard Kuroo’s breath catch in his throat and he felt his thighs shake next to his own, so he pulled barely an inch out and went back in _right there_ , right at the place that made Kuroo speechless.

Tetsurou was confused, but he was not going to tell him to stop. He knew that that felt infinitely less good than just going all in, but he wondered if that even mattered to Kei.

Every short thrust made him mumble more nonsense, more praise and more bliss, and he knew he was being loud, but that was what Kei deserved for working him up like that. Kuroo clenched a little around Kei without he could help himself, wanting to feel _more_ and feel it _now_.

“Tetsu, too tight,” Kei said against the skin where his face was pressed. He felt him relax a little, and when he pushed in again, Kuroo’s thighs closed on either side of his body once more.

Kei continued as Kuroo felt more and more pressure low in his abdomen. He wanted nothing more than to give himself a helping hand, but Kei was laying flush against him so he couldn’t jerk himself off, and his body did not seem to mind that it didn’t have the extra stimulation.

“Fuck,” Kuroo cursed when he felt the heat get to his brain and blur everything else out. “I love you, don’t stop, don’t – yes,” he stuttered, stopping only when he realised what was happening.

He dug his nails painfully deep into Kei’s back and could only warn him once before the feeling washed over him and he couldn’t get any words out. He came on his stomach, dragging his nails down Kei’s back as he kept thrusting into him. He was pulling out more and reaching further now, and Kuroo could tell that he was finally letting all of his behavioral reflexes take control.

One of Kei’s hands crept between their stomachs, wrapping around Tetsurou’s cock to make sure he’d gotten it all out. He thrusted once, twice more before he groaned in Kuroo’s neck and came deep inside, his hand still moving leisurely around Kuroo. 

Kei did not move, riding out his orgasm for a little while longer. Kuroo was now being a lot nicer with Kei’s back, stroking the skin he’d just made so red that he wondered if there was blood somewhere.

Kei moved back just a little, bringing his arms to either side of Kuroo’s head to lift himself up, staring at him with exhausted eyes. They smiled at the same time, all soft and tired, until Kei went to kiss Kuroo’s lips and they had to stop.

Taking his time, Kei pulled out while he kissed his boyfriend, keeping it gentle and dreamy. When he was done, he rolled to the side and took off the condom, tying it as Kuroo had advised him to before he threw it in the trash can that was right next to the bed. 

Kuroo turned to lean on his side, facing Kei and reaching for him so they could cuddle. The blond complied, scooting in his arms and wrapping his own around Kuroo’s waist.

“You’re unbelievable,” Tetsurou declared with his face full of Kei’s hair, chuckling a little after he’d finish speaking.

Kei was still breathing quite too fast and he was just starting to come to terms with what had happened. “So are you,” he replied, trying not to let sleep take him too soon.

Of course, that was practically impossible, and they fell asleep without cleaning up or turning the lights off, too engrossed with each other to move. **~**

 

-

 

Kei woke up on the last Saturday before school would start again with a ball of dread at the bottom of his stomach. It’d been a week since Kuroo had told him about tonight, and since it had been a busy week filled with work and stress, he’d only remembered it the previous night when Kuroo had mentioned it vaguely on the phone.

Kei wasn’t what you could call a party person. He was barely a people person. Scratch that, he wasn’t a people person at all. That was usually something that really messed with how well he did in these types of gathering. Also, he couldn’t help but think about the fact that he’d never had a real, solid conversation with Bokuto, and that the only time he’d seen Akaashi before, he had to be given life advice.

The only reason he was going was because it made Kuroo happy. And also because Kenma had convinced Hinata to be there with him. Kei had never gotten the golden opportunity to be in a place where both alcohol and Hinata Shouyou were present. He had high hopes.

When he walked in the bathroom, he almost jumped when he saw his reflection in the mirror. He’d gotten a haircut the day before and he was still getting used to it. He felt like he was seeing his old self from 6 months back when he looked at himself, and he didn’t exactly appreciate that.

He took a shower and then proceeded to spend the day trying to distract himself from two things that were inevitable: school, and that night’s events. He watched a boring movie, texted his brother a little about how he wanted to move out of their mom’s house (as if he shouldn’t have done that years ago), made a small cake that he finished on his own and looked at clothes on the internet. He checked the time every 5 minutes, stressing out a little more at every passing hour. At 8, he went to his room and picked something to wear, changing out of the clothes he’d worn not only all day, but the night before as well.

Kuroo was going to join him at 8:30, so he sat on his bed and waited, locking and unlocking his phone over and over as if something new would happen if he did this. He ended up picking his dirty clothes up and moving them to the laundry basket in the bathroom because that’s how bored he was.

He was looking at how much laundry soap he still had when there was a knock on the door and he went to get it. Kuroo was already grinning widely before Kei opened the door, walking in the apartment just to wait for him to put his shoes on and get ready to leave.

“Promise me something,” Kei requested after he’d locked the door behind them and started walking towards the elevator, “if I really, like, really really want to leave a little early, you’ll go with me.”

“Of course,” Kuroo answered without even needing to think, like there had never been a reason to ask this.

They took the elevator to the main floor and walked out of the building and to the bus stop, riding it over to Bokuto’s house a lot quicker than Kei had thought they would. It turned out that Bokuto’s house wasn’t even 15 minutes away from his apartment.

“Everyone should already be there,” Kuroo said as soon as they walked out of the bus, heading in the direction they’d just came from. “The house isn’t too far from here.”

Kei followed silently, wanting nothing else but to hold Kuroo’s hand on the way there to calm his nerves a little. There were people walking on the sidewalk, it was a nice night out, so he couldn’t do that.

They got to the house after a couple minutes of walking, climbing the porch and letting themselves in without knocking. Well, Kuroo walked in the house like a storm and Kei just followed him with a severe frown.

Kei was still taking his shoes off in the entryway when he heard Bokuto start yelling a string of words that made no sense. What he could get from it were the essentials: a couple of “BRO!!!!” here and there, mentions of Akaashi being there and how awesome that was and asking where Kei was.

“I’m here,” he yelled from the other room, looking for a place to put his vest. He wasn’t going to keep it on, the house was small and it was already stuffy in there.

Kuroo came back to the front of the house shortly after, having to swear to Bokuto that he was going to come back. He found Kei with his vest in his hands, already looking like he’d had enough. Kuroo took the vest from Kei and took the opportunity to grab his hand and link their fingers together.

“There’s nobody out there who doesn’t want you to join them,” Tetsurou said with this unwavering confidence he had, trying to convince Kei with all he had. Tsukki didn’t even need to say anything, Kuroo just knew.

Kei clicked his tongue irritably in response, but his hold on Kuroo’s hand became firmer. “I know,” he answered, avoiding Kuroo’s gaze.

“Well then,” Kuroo brushed away nonchalantly, pulling him by the hand to the living room but stopping right before they walked inside. “I’ll be with you all night,” he added before he pressed a brief, chaste kiss on Kei’s lips.

When they walked in the living room, Bokuto stood up and yelled something again while Akaashi tried to tell Kei that he’d still had nothing to drink but he seemed to be in a yelly mood anyway. Kuroo laughed with Bokuto at something no one else understood, so Kei moved to sit on the floor, next to the couch where Kenma and Hinata were.

“Hello, Kei,” Kenma greeted him with has much warmth as he was capable of.

“Hey,” Kei replied, quickly noticing that Hinata wasn’t even trying to look at him. With a playful smile, he stretched his leg to shake Hinata’s ankle with his foot and force him to acknowledge him.

Hinata indulged him for a second, looking at Kei’s face like he was seeing something rather unimpressive. He then turned away again, putting his attention back on whatever Kuroo and Bokuto were talking about.

“You know, omitting isn’t the same as lying,” Kei simply said, shrugging afterwards. “And you said you were forgiving me.”

Hinata sighed, finally looking at him properly. “I was still kinda expecting it to be a joke,” Shouyou explained, his cheeks puffy like a squirrel when he pouted in disappointment.

“Do you want me to be miserable that bad?” Kei replied, laughing lightly at Hinata’s expression.

Hinata rolled his eyes like the mere concept of that was absurd to him. “Of course not,” he started, crossing his arms in front of his chest, “but that means that you got a boyfriend before I did which is something I’m still trying to fathom.”

Kei started laughing properly at this, realising just how simple minded Hinata could be when he put his heart at it. Kuroo walked through the room and came to sit next to him at that moment, looking pleased and surprised to find his boyfriend laughing.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, taking Kei’s hand in his again and rubbing his thumb over it.

Kei looked down at their hands before he answered, still smiling dumbly from laughing at Shouyou. “Hinata’s jealous because I got a boyfriend before him.”

“That’s _not_ what I said!”

“That is basically what you said,” Kenma said matter-of-factly, watching with a soft smile as Hinata sulked at him, feeling betrayed.

“Savage,” Bokuto commented from the other side of the room like Kenma had just reinvented the concept of burning someone. He did have a tendency to make everything Kenma did seem a thousand times more intense.

Kuroo shook his head as he chuckled a couple of times, looking at how shocked and disrespected Hinata looked with his mouth open and his judging eyes. “You should thank him for even getting you to meet Kenma instead of making insecurities up,” he told him in this light way that made it seem like he wasn’t serious, but he was being very serious.

Hinata tried to send Kuroo a defying look, but he just couldn’t keep it up so he gave up. “Alright, I’m sorry, I’m over it.”

Bokuto stood up from his chair and rushed to Hinata’s side, taking him in his arms and shaking him around a little. “Don’t worry little guy, I’m getting you something to drink. Anyone else want something?”

Kuroo asked for a beer and Akaashi pulled on Bokuto’s sleeve and only had to look up at him for Bokuto to know what he was asking for. When he came back with the drinks, he handed them to those they belonged to and the conversation picked up to what it had been before, which Kei had not really followed since he’d been busy bothering Hinata.

Kuroo handed him his beer at some point, raising his eyebrows in question. Kei took it, looking at the bottle like he was trying to read something he would understand. He knew nothing about this.

“Just taste it, I wanna know if you like it,” Kuroo explained only to him, and his general attitude was so relaxed that Kei felt like it was damn time he’d follow along and unclench.

He took the smallest sip he could, tasting close to nothing, but he handed the beer back and shrugged when Kuroo asked him how it was. He’d get one later if he felt like it.

At the other side of the room, Akaashi was already done with the yellowish drink that Bokuto had brought him. One conclusion came from that, Akaashi was trying to get shitfaced, and knowing that made it a little easier to ask for a beer as well the next time Bokuto went to the kitchen.

Kuroo was getting more and more cuddly, leaving his hand to hold him around the waist with the arm he didn’t need to hold his beer. He was at his third, maybe his forth, Kei had lost count at some point. They were talking about volleyball a lot, being three guys from the same team and one guy from an opposing team. Kei didn’t even find it in him to be bothered by it.

When Bokuto mentioned one memorable night when everyone on their team had went out to celebrate a win and that Kuroo had gotten so drunk that he’d try to steal the waitress’ tip and flirt his way out of being kicked out, the room descended into chaos.

“ _Listen_ ,” Kuroo said to defend himself, and Akaashi snorted at his less than apologetic tone of voice. “You don’t leave the tip jar on the side of the fucking bar when you’re selling something that makes people do stupid shit.”

It was clear on Kenma’s face that he was disappointed, but he was obviously fighting a smile, knowing damn well that this was what he should expect from Kuroo. Without any surprise, he had opted out of that activity back in the days, so he had not happened to see this live.

“Let’s not act like you never did worse,” Kuroo added after everyone calmed down a little. “This guy right here has actually thrown his drink in someone’s face _AND_ escaped out of a window in the same night once.”

Bokuto looked beyond shocked that this was being brought up. “Yes I did, because I was being persecuted by some asshole who didn’t take no for an answer! You’re supposed to be on my side about this!”

Kuroo shrugged before he took a long sip of beer. “I don’t remember much besides the drink-throwing and you trying to get your other leg on the other side of the window,” he admitted with a huge shit-eating grin on his face, which only made Bokuto angrier.

Akaashi raised a finger in the air, which caught Bokuto’s attention instantly. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I just wanted to make it clear that you’re both idiots and I actually think what you did was worse, Kuroo-san.”

“SEE?” Bokuto yelled as he stood up once more, pointing at Kuroo like he was seeing a UFO that everyone had to look at.  

Kei giggled at Bokuto’s restlessness, turning his head to speak only to Kuroo in his ear. “Was Bokuto your wingman or something?”

“Huh,” Kuroo huffed, suddenly looking a little uncomfortable. “Kinda. I guess.”

“Better not make him angry at you then, he must have more dirt on you,” Kei advised him, turning back to the action as soon as he was done talking.

Kuroo smiled almost unnoticeably. “True,” he conceded before he brought his attention back to a boiling Bokuto. “I admit that I was generally worse than you in various drinking situations and that I tend to excuse my poor actions way too easily, are you happy?”

Bokuto slumped back into his seat, dejected from not getting to fight Kuroo about this. He loved arguing with him, it was always in good faith and it always made people laugh. “Someone pinch me, Kuroo is forfeiting.”

Akaashi reached his arm and pinched Bokuto’s arm without even looking at what he was doing. Kei thought he heard Hinata asking Kenma what ‘forfeiting’ meant. Kuroo had his head on Kei’s shoulder, tickling the back of his neck with his unruly hair. Kei liked being where he was.

 

-

 

It was almost 1 am and Tsukishima was laying down on the couch, staring at the ceiling like it had life answers for him. He’d ended up finishing the beers with Kuroo, drinking significantly less than his boyfriend had, but still a whole fucking lot.

Hinata was on the floor next to him, laughing about nothing while Kenma was talking in his ear. The latter was totally sober, but Kei felt like the fact that everyone around him was drunk made him a little more daring.

Kuroo burst into the room after he’d left 2 minutes before to go to the bathroom. He looked at Bokuto and Akaashi’s empty chairs, shrugging like that didn’t faze him at all. When he saw Kei on the couch, a light appeared in his eyes, and in less time that it took Kei to see it coming, Kuroo was laying down on top of him like he weighted nothing.

“Hi babe,” he said casually, planting a wet kiss on his cheek.

“You’re heavy,” Kei answered, wincing a little when Kuroo dug his knee into his side before he moved it between Kei’s body and the cushions of the couch.

Kuroo made his nose touch Kei’s, letting his eyelashes flutter on his glasses. “Better?”

Kei shook his head yes and Kuroo kissed his lips softly, forgetting about the other people in the room. For once in so long, he could actually allow himself to do that.

The kiss was short, but Kuroo kept giving more little pecks after, making Tsukki laugh with how silly he was being. “Are you hungry, moon of my life?”

Kei chuckled once more at being called that, bringing both of his hands to frame Kuroo’s head. “I’m starving,” he spat out vehemently.

“Let’s get you something to eat then,” Kuroo announced before he stood up from the couch, taking Kei’s hand to help him up. “You alright?”

Kei held strongly on Kuroo’s hand to keep his balance. “Yeah, I’m good,” he assured his boyfriend, leaning a little bit in his side to stop swaying.

Kuroo looked down at Kenma and Hinata who were laying down on the floor not too far from their feet. “Come on you two, follow along.”

“Huh?” Hinata slurred like he’d just been sleeping for hours. “What now?”

Kenma sat up and pulled on Hinata’s arm to make him do the same thing. “Food,” he explained briefly.

“Yes, food,” Shouyou repeated, standing up with Kenma’s help.

Kuroo snickered at Hinata’s drunkenness, truly wondering if he’d make it to the restaurant in his current state. “Shit, how much did Bokuto give you?”

Hinata frowned and thought about it particularly hard for something that he should remember easily. “He gave me two things.”

“Fuck, you’re a lightweight,” Kuroo mocked as he headed for the front door of the house, holding Kei by the waist as he looked behind to make sure that the other two were following without any problem. It took them at least 5 minutes to all get their shoes on, but Kenma was only slow because he was tired and wanted to go to bed really badly. When they got outside, the air was warm and humid and it did nothing to wake them up.

On their way to the closest restaurant that was open 24/7, Shouyou gasped and turned back to the house alarmingly. “What about Bokuto and Akaashi?” he asked, worried that they’d forgotten their friends behind.

“Akaashi said it was time for bed, and when Akaashi says that, Bokuto follows,” Kenma explained like that was the most basic thing you had to know about those two. They liked their alone time and they liked their sleep.

“Why can’t we go to bed too then?” Hinata whined, and Kenma smiled a happy, tired smile.

“Soon,” he promised, helping his boyfriend with his tilting balance.

The restaurant appeared in front of them like the promised land, and Kuroo ran inside like a mad man, forgetting what normal behavior was. When Kei caught up to him, he had to ask him to calm down.

They sat down at a remote table after they all ordered, Kuroo with a meal for 3 people, Tsukki with a side of fries, Kenma with a glass of water and Shouyou with every dessert he could order.

They ate their drunk food in relative silence, holding hands over or under the table and sharing their food with their significant other. Kenma ended up eating half of Shouyou’s chocolate sundae, and Kei stole a complete sandwich from Kuroo.

When Tsukki's eyes caught Kuroo’s own and he felt himself melt on the inside while his fool of a boyfriend bit the straw of his drink and lifted the whole thing up with his teeth, he realised that this was where he was supposed to be, and that he’d actually liked seeing a lot of people for a long period of time. There was still too much alcohol in his blood to pretend that he was sober, but he knew that this was a feeling that would stay with him even after the hangover. The feeling of belonging.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a person of my word ;)
> 
> That one was a LONG one. It took me so long to write. Soooo long. But it's done, and now there's only one more to go. My heart is broken.
> 
> I'd love it if you could tell me what you guys thought of the chapter!! Seeing your comments is what keeps me going, without your support this would be nothing.
> 
> I love you all more than you know xxx
> 
>  
> 
> [My tumblr](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com/)


	30. Flaws

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. I won’t write much up here, there will be a novel in the end notes.
> 
> First of all, thank you for sticking by until the end. I’m proud to finally show you my finished work.
> 
> Also, happy holidays to you all!
> 
> *longer spaces between sections mean more time has passed*

“ _So_ ,” Yamaguchi started with this curious hint in his voice, “ _how was the… party thing? That’s what it was, right_?”

Kei chuckled briefly, propping his elbow on the desk and squeezing the phone between his hand and his ear. “Yeah, I guess you could call it that. It was nice, Hinata got drunk after two beers.”

Yamaguchi laughed softly, unsurprised to learn this. “ _Did you drink too? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink._ ”

“I did, nothing too crazy though,” Kei replied, playing with the cover of the notebook they had to use at work to notify the rest of the staff of any problems or changes.

Yamaguchi hummed in response, sounding like he was rather amused by that. “ _I’m sorry I couldn’t make it, I’m sure that was very interesting._ ”

Kei had a dark smile. “I’m sure it was interesting for you either way. How’s Yachi doing?”

Yamaguchi stayed quiet for a second too long and Kei could only grin in victory. “ _She’s doing great. Actually, she’s changing programs and coming to our school._ ”

Yamaguchi always brushed off the embarrassment so quickly, but Tsukishima was still impressed every time he witnessed it. Yamaguchi had told him that Yachi was coming to visit him soon, but he had not mentioned a date. When Tsukki saw Yamaguchi’s dorm room in Yachi’s snapchat story as he was walking back from the drunk food heist with Kuroo, he felt the strange urge to high five his best friend.

“Well, it’s nice that you didn’t see it fit to tell me everything,” Kei said in a monotonous voice, but he realized too late that it might’ve not been how he should have said that.

Yamaguchi scoffed way too close to the phone. “ _You were always begging me to stop talking about her all throughout third year! And you never cared to explain how and where you even met Kuroo! You don’t get to tell me that, Tsukki_!”

Kei had a soft smile at how Yamaguchi’s voice was shaking from the held back laughter. That poor guy was unable to be either mad or serious as long as you didn’t push his buttons too far. “I found him in a dumpster,” Kei replied, chuckling once when he heard Yamaguchi finally give in and laugh loudly.

After he’d taken a second to calm down, Yamaguchi sighed and said: “ _No seriously, you’ll have to tell me one day._ ”

“Let’s wait until you get things going with Yachi so we can send each other letters with stories about our lovers-“

“ _Shut up Tsukki_!” Yamaguchi yelled like a child who’s tired to be mocked.

Kei stood up from his hunched position and stared in front of himself in awe. “Fine, you really want to know how it happened? It was my first day working alone and he came in to print pictures of his volleyball team, then he asked me if I was familiar with it and I said I was so he told me I could swing by his school’s gym if I got bored, but honestly I never intended to go there until I thought it could distract Hinata for a couple hours.”

“ _Are you serious_?” Yamaguchi replied as soon as Tsukki stopped speaking. “ _I mean, unless you were super nice about the volleyball thing, which I’m guessing you weren’t, he must have a death wish._ ”

“Well, I’m glad he does.”

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

His project was due the next day at 3 in the afternoon, there was absolutely no time to waste. Kei was sitting on his bed, hunched over his computer in a position that was probably awful for his back, typing sentences that he kept deleting. He heard the front door opening, and he didn’t even think anything of it, looking through one of his books for something he’d seen before and hadn’t thought much about. He had to create an algorithm for a stupid security program, but he’d be damned if he didn’t do it perfectly.

Kuroo was standing in the doorway a short moment later, heaving a dejected sigh at the sight of his boyfriend being so worn out only a month into his second semester. “Take your hands away from the computer,” he ordered as he kept his face and his voice emotionless.

“What?” Kei replied as he kept typing, entering some kind of formula into a program that Kuroo had never seen before. Just the sight of it was giving him a headache. “This is due tomorrow, I need to finish it.”

Kuroo walked up to the bed, rubbing a hand on his face as he did. “You’re gonna let this go and take a nap,” he said, touching the top of the laptop as to turn this into a treat.

Kei took his attention to Kuroo, staring at him with a look in his eyes that was halfway between hurt and panicked. “This is close to half of my grade for this class, I only have an exam to fix it if I don’t do well-“

“Babe, how much did you have as an average last semester, all classes combined?” Kuroo asked as he sat on the bed, dangerously close to the laptop that Kei was still itching to work on.

Tsukki evaded Kuroo’s gaze, going back to the computer screen that was still way too bright for him even though he’d turned the brightness down to the lowest setting.

Tetsurou had a nervous chuckle at this reaction. “You had an A average. Have you been doing this to yourself with every assignment you had to do?”

Kei could tell that Kuroo was trying to hide the worry in his voice so he wouldn’t freak Kei out even more, but he was doing a piss poor job.

Kuroo sighed again, more dramatically, before he stood up and walked to the other side of the bed where he lied down on his side. “Okay, you’re gonna save your work and take a nap, I’m being serious.”

Kei kept entering numbers in the program, acting like he wasn’t hearing Tetsurou. If he handed it in like it was, he’d never reach the heights he’d aimed for, and that would only depress him even more. He had to make this perfect and he didn’t have the time to be reminded that his methods weren’t exactly healthy.

He was writing the equation in his essay when two arms wrapped around his body, caging his arms against his sides helplessly. “Kuroo,” Kei spat between his teeth, fighting weakly against Kuroo’s hold.

Tetsurou grinned wildly, kissed Kei’s cheek and brought him down with him so they’d be spooning. Kei was so exhausted that he didn’t even try to free himself, he only scowled at nothing while Kuroo held him so tight that he felt like he was in a straightjacket.

“I won’t sleep just because you’re forcing me to,” Tsukishima protested while Kuroo made them sway back and forth as if he was trying to put a baby to sleep.

Kuroo kept smiling when he heard that because he already knew there was no way he’d lose this battle. “You haven’t slept all night, have you? You spent all day working on this and it’s almost 10pm, so believe me, you will sleep.”

Kei hummed a quiet, contradicting _uh-uh_. “You’re wasting your time and you’re wasting mine. I just need to work on it a little more and it’ll be ready, I’ll sleep later.”

Kuroo shook his head no even though Kei couldn’t see him. “This is what you get for not answering me for two days, you’ll work on it tomorrow morning,” he replied firmly before he reached to pull the comforter over their bodies and took Kei’s glasses off. “Close your eyes, I’m not leaving until you’re sleeping.”

Tsukishima sighed irritably, determined to stay awake just to piss Tetsurou off. He knew he cruelly needed sleep, his body had made sure that he wouldn’t have it too easy, but he had too much on his mind to even think about trying. Now that he was being forced to, he tried to think about this in a rational way. There was a lot done and he only had to do the finishing touches, but his essay explaining the whole program was not completely done. Could he finish that in a couple hours the next morning? Would it be good enough?

“Babe, think about something else,” Kuroo said when he felt Kei’s body tensing up with stress at the thought of his unfinished essay.

Kei scoffed, feeling just a little angry at Kuroo, but he was also immensely grateful that he was there even though he wasn’t about to tell him that. “I would be able to if I could finish it,” he replied with venom in his voice.

Kuroo brushed it off instantly, kissing Kei’s head like he did when he thought that his boyfriend was being cute. It made Kei a little angrier, but a little calmer at the same time. He couldn’t believe that Kuroo dared to act like he knew better, but Kei had missed him a lot and he had to admit that he had been starting to feel lonely.

He took a deep breath and stretched his exhale as much as he could, feeling some of the pressure that was weighing on him escape as well. Even though he’d wanted to stay mad a little longer, the way Kuroo was cuddling him like he was afraid Kei would slip through his hold was just endearing enough to make it impossible. Kei shut his eyes, thinking _here goes nothing_ , but there was a pleasant fog in his mind when he relaxed his face and stopped feeling like there wasn’t enough oxygen in the room. Kuroo’s fingers moved soothingly over Kei’s stomach, light and subtle as to not distract him from his efforts to fall asleep.

It had taken 5 minutes at most when Tetsurou felt all tenseness leaving Kei’s body. His shoulders relaxed, his inhales got deeper and he stopped laying on his side so upright, rolling forward a little bit. Kuroo grinned in victory, taking his arms away carefully to make sure he wouldn’t wake Tsukki up.

He got out of bed and walked over to Kei’s side to save the project on the computer and leave the machine on the desk where it wouldn’t be knocked over. On his way out of the room, he stopped in the doorway and leaned on the side of the wall, watching Tsukishima’s peaceful sleeping face with the kind of smile that Bokuto would’ve never let him live down, had he seen it.

 

-

 

“…ke up. Babe? Wake up, Tsuks, I’ve got something for you.”

Kei had to fight against a thousand forces to open his eyes. He felt like he’d been sleeping for 5 minutes and 5 centuries at the same time. He could tell Kuroo was asking him to wake up, but Kuroo could get fucked at that moment, honestly.

Consciousness came back to him in waves like it always did. He stared at Tetsurou like he’d just been gravely disrespected, and his human alarm clock had the audacity to laugh at that.

“What time is it?” was Kei’s first question once he was awake enough to speak.

Kuroo was still grinning in that absolutely insulting way that was also stupidly cute. “1 am.”

Kei didn’t know if he was angry at Kuroo for not letting him sleep all night or if he was angry that he let him nap this long. Either way, it was in the anger family. “Why are you waking me up at 1 am?” he asked with a menacing calmness.

“If it’s past midnight, what day are we?” Kuroo was acting smug. Kei thought about it, he’d just spent around 36 hours straight without sleeping so he was slightly disoriented. If Monday had been the 25th, then Wednesday was the 27th and… oh.

“Oh,” Kei exclaimed, voicing his exact thoughts at the realization that it was technically his birthday. Kuroo still had his “ _I’m up to something_ ” face and Kei was curious to know why, even though he had a feeling that it might anger him even more. “Is that why you said you had something for me?”

“Yes, but first of all, happy birthday,” Kuroo said, punctuating his wish with a quick, tender kiss.

"Thanks," Tsukki replied when Kuroo moved away, rubbing his eyes with his closed fists so it'd be less painful to keep his eyes open.

Kuroo had a knowing air on his face that made him look like he completely understood that Kei's birthday wasn't an extremely big deal to the birthday boy. Maybe he'd get to know why, maybe he wouldn't, but he knew not to push it and Kei was constantly grateful about that.

"Alright," Kuroo exclaimed after a strong sigh, almost making Kei jump in fear, "get up and follow me."

Kei got out of bed reluctantly, taking the hand that Kuroo was holding out for him. He followed him to the end of the hallway where the lights were dim and the kitchen table was full of different plates of what looked like Kuroo's attempt at sushi. Tsukki smiled sweetly at his birthday present.

"I said I would," Tetsurou said with a nervous smile, letting his gaze flutter between Kei and the table. He could try to act like he was suddenly so wise, but he still got anxious about the least important things. Kei couldn't believe that Kuroo would ruin his own sleep after basically forcing his boyfriend to get some rest.

Kei had his head tilted on the side, watching Kuroo with a disappointed frown. "Did you just spend 2 hours doing this?"

Kuroo shook his head once before he had a humourless chuckle. "Maybe more than that," he replied flatly.

Tsukki stopped staring at Kuroo to look at the table and note the different level of success of the many sushi. "And how many times did you start over?"

"You don't want to know," Kuroo answered gloomily, thinking about all the horrible ones he'd made and kept in a plastic bag to bring back home. His mother would probably laugh at them, but she would eat them.

Kei was smiling in that spontaneous, uncalculated way, and Kuroo allowed himself to get his hopes up. He thought that he had fucked up for the last couple of minutes, but that was usually a sign of the opposite. "What did I do to deserve you," Kei sighed appreciatingly, smiling to himself for a moment before his expression got sombre and he added "You don't need to answer that."

Kuroo laughed loudly as he walked in Kei's direction, both genuinely amused and relieved that he hadn't messed anything up. He wrapped him up in a hug from the side, leaving a noisy kiss on his cheek for good measure. “Are you actually hungry or should I put that away before the fish goes bad?”

“All I ate for two days was breakfast cereal,” Tsukki replied with a shrug.

Kuroo’s expression fell gravely and in a second, he was moving away from Kei and pulling out a chair for him to sit on.  “You’re gonna eat until you feel sick,” he said firmly, walking around the chair to grab on Kei’s shoulders and force him to sit down.

“I don’t think that’s healthier,” the blond replied, but he didn’t protest for too long, picking up a couple pieces and transferring them to his plate.

Kuroo sat next to him and watched as Kei ate his first sushi with a surprised nod of approval. He bit his lip and decided to ask the question that was burning him, even though it would make Kei mad. "Are you really still... do you still think you don't deserve me?"

Kei’s eyes left the plates in front of him and rushed to Tetsurou’s face, panicked and ashamed. "I, uh, I don't know,” he started clumsily, “I can't help but feel really average next to you."

"Average?” Kuroo’s scoff was sudden and awfully loud for this hour of the day. “You? My only weakness?"

Kei didn’t miss a beat. "You have many weaknesses. Me. Sad Kenma. The night sky. Your mom. Volleyball. Cats. Alcoh-"

"Okay, okay, I get it,” Tetsurou interrupted with an annoyed sigh. “But you know what I mean."

Kei kept eating in silence for a while, shrugging lightly when he finished putting his thoughts together. "It's not a problem, though. I'm happy with the way things are."

Kuroo smiled to him, reaching to grab the hand that he wasn’t using to eat. They shared the meal until there wasn’t any food left, talking about things that would get Kei’s mind off anything school related. They talked about Akiteru’s wedding in December and their plans for their break in October, enjoying each other’s company without putting more stress on their shoulders.

After they cleaned up the plates and Kuroo showed his failed attempts to Tsukki, their touches started to linger and they held each other in the middle of the kitchen without letting go for a good amount of time. "Come on, average boy,” Kuroo whispered softly in Kei’s ear, “let's go back to bed."

Kuroo’s hands instantly moved to the back of Kei’s thighs which they securely grabbed, lifting just enough for Tsukki to be able to wrap his legs around Kuroo’s waist.

"Wow, you're strong," Kei commented jokingly while Kuroo started walking over to the bedroom.

" _Ah ah_ ,” Kuroo laughed sarcastically, “I've been working out extra hard to pick you up more often, so funny."

Kei clicked his tongue like that was the fakest thing he’d ever heard, looking down at Kuroo with knowing eyes. "You only did that because it turns you on,” he said so matter-of-factly that it hurt Kuroo’s soul.

"Guilty," Tetsurou replied as he stuck the tip of his tongue between his lips playfully.

Kei squinted, glaring down at Kuroo from even higher up than he usually was. Kuroo wasn’t going to lie, he kind of liked it. He walked them to the bedroom, smiling at his boyfriend until he would understand the silent begging and bend down to kiss him. They gave each other small pecks until Kuroo ran into the bed and sent them both tumbling on the mattress.

They laughed and shoved one another away, giggling for long minutes after they’d started to calm down. "How was your birthday gift?" Kuroo asked in one of the lulls.

"Ugly but good,” Tsukki replied in one breath, looking at least 50% better than he did a couple hours ago.

Kuroo had a lone chuckle, but he was still pleased with the description. "Name of my autobiography," he joked, turning his head on the side to look in Kei’s eyes and see how he would react to that.

Kei rolled his eyes and gave Kuroo a nasty side-glance. "Shut up..."

Tetsurou noticed the hesitation in Kei’s voice and his lips stretched in a grin. "It sounded like you were about to compliment me just then," he teased, nudging Tsukki’s arm with his elbow.

Kei had a fake smile, taunting Kuroo with a negative nod of his head. "Alright,” he began, sounding like he was taking on a challenge, “you're the handsomest man I've ever seen."

Kuroo was taken aback, gasping at Kei who had never looked that smug. "I wasn't asking for that much," Kuroo said, blinking a couple of times too often to pass as casual.

"That wasn't a compliment, I was stating a fact," Kei continued, adding another nail in the coffin. He watched as Kuroo’s composure faltered, obviously enjoying how weak he could make his boyfriend just with some sweet words.

Kuroo felt his chest swell with adoration. "Well,” he said as he had trouble keeping a smile down, “you're the nicest guy I know."

"Are you sure about that?"

Kuroo rolled on the side and brought a hand to Kei’s face, stroking his cheek softly while he finally let himself smile as wide as he wanted. "The nicest with me," he explained in a whisper, moving closer to Kei’s face so their lips would be brushing and Kei would have to lift his chin a little bit to get a kiss.

They were unhurried, kissing each other so airily that it sometimes felt like their lips were just ghosting over the other’s, so close, but not close enough. Kei was sighing a lot, keeping his eyes closed tightly and kissing back with a sweetness that made Kuroo glad that he wasn’t standing up. It had been 2 days, 2 days without seeing or even calling each other, and Kuroo felt like that was Kei’s way of asking for forgiveness.

Kuroo broke the kiss slowly, moving away without opening his eyes or taking his hand off Tsukki’s face. He needed to keep touching him, he wasn’t leaving his side for as long as he could, but he needed to find a way to make it clear that he got what Kei had tried to communicate to him. He had to accept his apology.

"What do you say we go back to sleep and pick up where you left off tomorrow morning?” Kuroo’s voice was even and calming, his hand still stroking Kei’s cheek. “You can finish your essay while I take a look at your algorithm. What do you still have to do?"

Kei opened his eyes and studied Tetsurou’s face carefully with an expression of wonder. "I... I need to describe some functions and write the conclusion,” he stuttered, feeling his face heating up underneath Kuroo’s hand.

"Good, so we should be done early enough to shower and eat before we head for your presentation."

Kei was glaring at Kuroo like he suddenly didn’t understand anything that he was being told. "We?" he questioned weakly.

Kuroo nodded twice, bringing up his second hand to grab Kei’s face between both of his hands. "I don't have anything before 6pm, I'm going with you."

He’d never seen tears well up so quickly in Kei’s eyes, and for a guy who swore he’d never cried once between the ages of 8 and 18, Kei cried pretty often. Kuroo knew why, he never made his boyfriend feel bad about that, but it still broke his heart every goddamned time. For now, he just had to hold Kei and let him do whatever he had to do to process his emotions. It’s not like Kuroo had any advice to give about that.

So that’s what he did, taking his hands away from Kei’s face and holding him close even if that meant he had to crawl on top of him and make it hard for him to breathe. "You know I'm here for you, we're doing this together,” he reminded him before he left a kiss in Kei’s hair, just above his ear.

Kei sniffed once, but he’d already gotten it under control. He was smiling now, barely, but it was there. "Tetsu?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Kuroo took a deep breath of relief, wondering when he’d ever see it coming. He hoped he never would.

"Me too, so much."

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

“Okay, what’s the story?” Kei asked for the third time while Akiteru’s tailor was fixing his shirt sleeves and Kuroo was walking back and forth in front of him.

“I’m Aki’s friend from college,” Kuroo also chorused for the third time, “I came here with you because you’re the only other person I know here, that’s also why I’m sitting next to you.”

Kei nodded a couple of times, worrying a little at his bow tie. “If my mom has one too many glass of wine and gets super chummy with you, you have to act like you think it’s strange.”

“Mmh,” Kuroo agreed, walking up to Kei to fix the bow tie for him. “And if someone seems to be suspicious I have to go talk to Aki for 5 minutes.”

Akiteru was shaking his head in desolation, sharing a look with the tailor who seemed to be almost as sorry about the situation as Aki was. “I’m so sorry you have to do that, guys,” Akiteru said gloomily.

Tsukki brushed it off instantly, shrugging nonchalantly while Kuroo brushed the wrinkles away from the fabric on his shoulders. “We’d rather come out somewhere where there isn’t enough people to start a brawl.”

Akiteru scoffed and the tailor had a spontaneous side-smile at how over it Kei was.

“We’d also rather not steal your thunder in the eventuality that it would go well,” Kuroo added, running a hand through Kei’s hair to ruffle it a little as he smiled deviously at his boyfriend. “It’s kinda like getting engaged at another person’s wedding, it’s such a sucky thing to do.”

“It is,” the tailor confirmed as he squatted down to work at the bottom of Akiteru’s pants.

Akiteru laughed a little bit, glad that the atmosphere wasn’t as heavy as he thought it would be. “I still can’t believe I’m the one getting married and you’re the ones who need to be psyched up.”

Kuroo seemed to take it as a challenge. “You can do it,” he declared loudly as he turned to look at the groom, “marriage is good! Love, and stuff!”

Akiteru broke in a second, giggling like a kid, while Kei had to smile at his dumb boyfriend. “Thank you Kuroo, I now cannot wait to be married, you have changed my life.”

“You already couldn’t wait,” Kei chimed in with a bored voice. “Just last week you called me three times to tell me how impatient you were to introduce Saeko to people as your wife.”

Akiteru grinned in a naughty way, which almost spelled _you got me there_. “I did ask her to marry me because I actually wanted to marry her, believe it or not.”

“If only more people did that,” the tailor sighed, and the other three agreed in silence.

Akiteru’s outfit was finally perfect when his mother barged in the room, apparently stressing over everything to make up for her son’s and step-daughter’s lack thereof. “Everyone’s already in the dinning room downstairs and we don’t have any champagne anymore so we had to switch for a cheap imitation, but if you need me to go to the store-“

“Mom, would you please go down there and take a seat like everyone else? If you leave now you’ll miss the whole thing.”

“Oh lord,” his mother replied, bringing a hand to her pained heart. “We’ll stick with the fake champagne!” she screamed on her way out of the door, turning around for half a second so she could wave at her other son who was holding back his laughter.

Once they didn’t hear the click of her heals on the stairs anymore, Akiteru turned to his brother and took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m telling Saeko I’m going downstairs, it’s now.”

“It’s now,” Kei replied, getting suddenly nervous as a side effect of his mom’s breakdown. Kuroo grabbed his hands and rubbed his thumb over it to calm him down.

Akiteru nodded firmly before he grabbed his phone, turning it on to send the long-awaited text to Saeko. “You guys go first, I’ll be down there in 5 minutes.”

They both shook their heads yes before they turned around and left the room, heading for the stairs. The place they had picked for the wedding was fancy, every piece of furniture was made from hardwood and all the walls and the curtains were white and luminous. It was also at the perfect half-distance between Tokyo and Sendai, so they’d only had an hour and a half of train to do to get there.

Still, Kei felt as tired as if he’d rode the train all day. He held on tightly to Kuroo’s hand, because once they would be down those stairs and out for everyone to see, they wouldn’t be able to do that for a while. Kei was definitely not feeling psyched up.

Their fingers brushed for as long as they could while they took their hands away. They sighed at the same time, feeling like they didn’t have a rock to hold on to anymore. As they looked at each other and nodded once more, they both silently begged the sky for good luck.

Together, they walked in the room where the wedding ceremony would take place, and in all Saeko fashion, it was as simple as it could be. Kei’s mother had once said that Saeko kept picking options that were _visually unsatisfying_ , but that it kept their budget pretty much intact so it wasn’t all that bad. Kei liked the minimalism.

Kei had thought that they would find their places easily and that they would sit down without anyone bothering them, but that’s not what happened. He didn’t look for his dad on purpose and he didn’t let his gaze linger on family members for so long that it would start a conversation against his will, but he was still bothered uselessly.

Kei loved Saeko, he did. She was fun and she had never, not once, gone too far with anything. She’d been Akiteru’s girlfriend for 2 years, so he knew her very well. The only bad thing about Saeko wasn’t even technically her fault, Kei wouldn’t have dreamt of holding it against her. But that one bad thing became an awful thing in the event of social gatherings like this one.

Nishinoya Yuu was looking up at him from his ridicule height, smiling so wide that Kei got worried for a moment that he’d split his face in half. Behind him was Tanaka, snickering at Noya’s face, but keeping his distance from Kei.

“Been a while,” Noya taunted, deepening his voice to sound a little dark. “You’re still unfairly tall.”

“And you’re still fairly short,” Kei replied so coldly that Kuroo let out the faintest hint of a snort.

Noya smiled sarcastically, but his eyes were still full of light. He wasn’t hostile at all, Kuroo realised. “Where did you find your friend? At a tall people convention?”

Kei scoffed briefly, still being both infinitely annoyed and entertained by that guy. “I’m surprised you even heard about those,” he replied, playing along.

Noya dipped to the side to look behind Kei, holding his hand out for Kuroo to shake. “I’m Noya, Tsukishima’s ex-teammate, but I’m sure he’s already told you about me,” he introduced himself while Kuroo shook his hand in greeting.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think he has,” Kuroo replied, aware that this was probably another joke anyway.

Noya gasped loudly and slapped a hand to his cheek in surprise so roughly that he basically hit himself in the face. “Tsukishima, I am appalled to say the least, I can’t believe you would omit to talk about me to someone who gets the privilege to be on your profile picture-“

Noya kept talking, but Kei chose not to listen to him, focussing instead on the handshake that was happening between Tanaka and Kuroo. He thought he’d heard Tanaka introduce himself as Saeko’s brother, and he tried to remembered if he’d ever even told Kuroo that Saeko had a brother. He might’ve forgotten.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Kuroo Tetsurou, a friend of Kei’s brother,” Kuroo answered to a nodding Tanaka.

Noya’s attention had also been derailed from his own monologue, and he was now staring back and forth between Tetsurou and Kei.

Tsukki could see the realisation appearing in Noya’s eyes. The profile picture, Kuroo calling him Kei, his apparent need to precise that he was Akiteru’s friend and not Kei’s, it all added up in Noya’s mind right before Tsukishima’s eyes.

When he least expected it, Noya grabbed him by the hem of his vest and pulled him down to be able to whisper to him. “You’re not being very careful,” he said with this darkness at the back of his voice that made him sound like he thought it was awesome.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kei replied just guiltily enough to confirm what Noya was thinking without _confirming_ it. Noya was to be trusted with this stuff, so it was probably for the best that he’d picked up on it so quickly. Now they knew how to be even more careful: _no first names, we say I had to post the picture as a dare._

Noya grinned again and Kei didn’t need to see his face to know what it looked like. “You dog,” Noya whispered proudly just a second before he let Kei go and pretended like nothing had happened.

“I think we should sit,” Kuroo told Kei once he was standing upright again. “Your brother will be here soon.”

“We’ll sit with you guys,” Noya declared, grabbing Tanaka’s arm and forcing him to follow after Tsukishima and Kuroo who had reserved seats in the third row. Kei didn’t feel like fighting with Noya, and he thought that if his dad saw him with friends, he’d feel too awkward to ruin his promise.

They were lucky enough to find two empty seats next to the reserved ones, even though Kei probably wouldn’t have described it like that. His mother was sitting in front of him, and when she turned around to talk to him, her eyes caught the sight of two trespassers.

“You’re both supposed to be on the other side of the room,” she told them without any harshness to her voice, but she did want the celebration to be perfect, and that included that the two families sit on different sides.

Kei scoffed to dismiss this useless concern, putting his hand on his mother’s shoulder for support. “Let them live, mom.”

His mother sighed noisily, but she would agree since her baby had asked her. “Alright, but that’s bad luck.”

“Luck is overrated,” Kei replied without really thinking, trying to be a punk more than anything else. Kuroo smiled softly at what he had just heard, appreciating the emotion behind it.

It didn’t take too long before Akiteru walked into the room and closed the door after himself. He was agreeing to Saeko’s only special demand: she had to open the huge doors herself in one strong push, Beyoncé style. It was going to make her so happy.

Akiteru didn’t look nervous, he seemed to be rather excited. Kei was proud of his brother, he could only imagine how scary it was to vow your life-long love to someone else. He could still understand why Aki would want that, though. Now he could.

It had barely been a minute when they heard chatter on the other side of the door, so everyone turned around, waiting for the bride to arrive. She didn’t have any music and she was walking up there alone, which was commendable. It was quite the feat to hold all of the attention on her shoulders alone, but she could take it on.

She pushed the doors open, already grinning brightly at all of the guests. Akiteru watched her in awe as she walked inside the room with that satisfied gleam in her eyes, looking at nothing else but her future husband. When she finally walked up to him, she had to look up so high that she almost had her face lined up perpendicularly with the ceiling. Some people laughed, a couple of others went _aww_ out loud. Kei had never seen his brother smile so brightly in his life, and he was glad he ever got to see that.

Akitery spoke first, reciting his speech from memory instead of reading it. “If I had known,” he began as his voice started to shake, “if I had somehow known how it felt to love you way before I met you, I would’ve searched the world just for one or two more years together, I would’ve given everything up just to find you. I think it might be a little intense, I don’t know, but that’s how I feel.”

There were some laughs in the crowd, but Kei could swear he heard his mother crying. Akiteru had bet she would start crying one minute in, but Kei had said it wouldn’t take 30 seconds. Aki owed him 2000 yen.

 

-

 

Kuroo had only caught a glimpse of Kei’s father when he had left two hours ago, and that was probably the most he’d ever see of him. He knew that it was what Kei wanted, but he didn’t know how likely that was. They’d finished eating a while ago, so the guests were now busying themselves with drinking and dancing. Kuroo had already smuggled two glasses of fake champagne for Kei because Akiteru had warned all the waiters not to give him any. “ _I’m 20 next year_ ,” Kei had fought back, “ _I don’t care_ ,” Akiteru had replied.

Tetsurou handed the glass to Kei when he got back to the table they were sitting at with Kei’s grandmother. She had not asked any strange questions about the both of them except for “Can your friend support you financially?”, and Kei had laughed in a very unnatural way before he stopped abruptly and only replied “No” in the driest way he could, watching as Kuroo gasped audibly and his grandma laughed in an evil and pitchy way. Kei didn’t know if she had picked up on it or if his mother had told her, but all he knew was that he liked the questions she was asking.

Since his grandma was almost sleeping in her seat, Kei’s fingers lingered on Kuroo’s when he took the glass from his hand. “Thanks,” he said, looking up at him over the rim of his glasses.

“You’re welcome, Tsuks,” Kuroo replied with a wink.

Kei took the entire content of the glass down in one swing. Tetsurou glared at him with wide eyes, immensely impressed and proud behind his fake worry.

“Shit, dude,” Kuroo exclaimed, smiling with amazement.

Kei shrugged, putting his empty glass down on the table. “Making grandma proud,” he replied with a nod of his chin in his comatose grandma’s direction. He stood up, grabbing Kuroo’s sleeve in a way that was rough enough to pass as platonic and he dragged him to the other side of the reception room.

“Where are you taking me?” Kuroo laughed nervously, following along as he looked behind them worriedly.

Kei had a smug smirk, facing away from Kuroo. “You see those curtains over there? It looks like some kind of backstage.”

“Okay, and?”

Kei didn’t say anything, walking to the curtain and peeking behind it to see if there was anything or anyone there. “I’m tired of people,” he finally explained, letting the curtain fall back after Kuroo joined him.

“Of course you are,” Tetsurou replied with a soft smile, letting the fake bro attitude fall at the exact second that the curtain hid them from the rest of the guests.

Kei was about to be a little shit, as usual, when the music faded into something slower and the lights in the room dimmed to create a more romantic atmosphere.

Kuroo instantly had a look on his face that reminded Kei of all the unstable bad guys in super hero movies. “Oh.”

“What?” Kei asked, knowing _what_ , but hoping he did not know _what_.

Kuroo took Tsukki’s hand and walked closer to him, bringing a hand on his hip and pulling him closer. “May I have this dance?”

Kei was so aggravated by what he had just heard that he didn’t even glare, he kept his mouth shut and allowed Kuroo to handle him without protest. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” Kuroo replied cheekily. “Come on, let’s slow dance.”

The fake champagne seemed to be making the decision for Kei because he smiled and put his forehead against Kuroo’s shoulder, which was something that normally required him to be either tired or clingy to do, which wasn’t entirely true right now. He wasn’t being clingy, he was... tired of acting like he wasn’t in love with his _brother’s friend_.

Kuroo lifted their joined hands and moved his hand from Kei’s hip to his lower back. He looked like he was about to say a joke, so Kei knew this was going to be awful and he was bracing for it. Stiffly, Kuroo took a step back and dragged Kei along, laughing lightly when he realised they were standing too close to each other to move backwards after this. He moved to the side, and Kei followed with an amused look in his eyes. 

“You’re bad at this,” Tsukishima declared as he tried to move apart from Kuroo to make their movements a little easier.

Kuroo answered with a kiss at first, stunning Kei enough to make him go still. “So are you, no rhythm or grace whatsoever.”

As they laughed together and the alcohol kept making them dance awkwardly, a sly little minx was looking between the curtains with a dark smile until he realised how endearing this actually was to watch. Noya felt warmth spreading all over his stomach and his smile became much, much softer as he watched longer. There was nothing better than being right, it made him feel like a prized detective, but sometimes he had to admit that other situations came close to reaching the same level of satisfaction. Seeing someone that used to be so sad, smiling and being silly with someone they loved, it definitely was one of those situations.

 

-

 

Everyone had left the wedding and Kei’s mom was taking the boys to the hotel they were staying at for the night. She had a dopey smile on her face, apparently pleased with how the day had gone. Kei was leaning on Kuroo’s side, laying his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder, and he knew his mother kept looking at them through the rear-view mirror with this happy and carefree gaze.

It must’ve been three in the morning when Kuroo closed the door of the hotel room and watched with a silent laugh as Kei fell face first on the bed. Kuroo fell on top of him, sliding his arms under Kei’s stomach and holding him tightly. “Baby, I love you, I’ve wanted to tell you all night because you looked so cute and I fucking love you and-“

“Tetsu you’re heavy,” Kei slurred with his face pressed against the bed so hard that he couldn’t articulate properly.

“Baby, can you believe we got here? I can’t believe we got here.”

Tsukishima sighed, accepting the fact that Kuroo wasn’t going to move anytime soon. “The hotel or life in general?”

Kuroo giggled dumbly. “I’m talking about us, can you believe we got here just from teasing each other and being bad enough at math to constantly need each other’s help?”

“And threatening to go on dates with other people to see how I’d react,” Kei replied, reminding Kuroo of his failed attempt at making Kei jealous with a fake _rendezvous_. It had been pretty early in their relationship, so Kei wouldn’t be mad at Kuroo if he didn’t remember it, but he had felt pretty witty that day.

Kuroo laughed and held Kei even harder. “I did teach you a good lesson that day,” he said with his face full of Kei’s hair. “Don’t assume that someone is bad in bed until you’re absolutely sure you’ll never sleep with them.”

“I stand by what I said,” Kei replied, completely unbothered. “You’d still be horrible in a threesome.”

Tetsurou rolled off from Kei and glared at him like he’d just announced somebody’s death. “How dare you?”

Kei grinned at Kuroo with his cheek still squeezed on the bed. “I’d keep you all for me and the third person would just be sitting there, looking at us with his arms crossed,” he explained with a strong conviction while a smile grew on Kuroo’s face, loving where this had went.

“That’s so true and I love you,” Kuroo mumbled into the comforter, reaching quickly to grab Kei’s hand, bring it to his lips and kiss it. “Let’s have twosomes for the rest of our lives.”

Tsukki’s eyes were closing on their own, the effects of the fake champagne had died down, but the smile on his face wasn’t faltering. “That would be perfect.”

 

-

 

It had only been December 25th for 2 minutes and Kuroo was already dragging Kei outside to stand under the light snow that had just started to fall. _Snow, Kei_ , Kuroo had said with great emphasis. Kei couldn’t say no after such strong arguments.

They had decided to go to Sendai with Kei’s mother after they had spent the night at the hotel, having nothing to do in Tokyo for a couple more days. Akiteru had gotten married on the 23rd, so that meant they were spending their first Christmas together in a town where everybody seemed to go to bed at 9pm, which was a very positive thing.

They walked under the slowly falling snow for 5 minutes before Kuroo’s fingers started to tingle from the cold. Just after they’d taken the decision to go back inside and warm up, the snow started to pile down a lot more heavily, falling in humongous flakes that were carried by the wind in a way that made it look like gravity had suddenly gotten much weaker. They looked up at the sky at the same time, watching the snow falling like they had never seen it before.

Eventually, Kuroo ended up looking at Kei more than the snow, enjoying the view he had either way. Kei felt the eyes on him, so he turned his attention to Kuroo and tried to smile nonchalantly, but it didn’t succeed.

Kuroo’s eyebrows furrowed instantly. “What’s up?”

“I was thinking about your Christmas gift,” Kei spoke so quickly that Kuroo wondered if he’d just been waiting for the switch to be turned on.

Kuroo had a soft sigh, smiling sweetly as he did. “You don’t need to get me one,” he said modestly.

“It’s more for me than for you,” Kei explained vaguely as he brought his gaze back to the falling snow. It was way less intense than it had been just a minute before.

Tetsurou’s smile got confused and curious. “Can I ask what it is?”

Kei shrugged, but the pink on his cheeks didn’t seem to be only due to the cold. He took a deep breath and exhaled a white cloud, gathering some strength for what he was about to ask. “I wanted to know if you might want to come live with me?”

He decided he had to share eye-contact for the rest of this or it would be too awkward, and when his eyes met with Kuroo’s, the boy already looked like he was stunned. “You would need to get a job and pay your part of the rent, but-“

“Yes.”

Kei blinked twice before he started breathing and functioning again. “Yes?”

Kuroo shook his head up and down an alarming number of times. “Yes.”

They were holding each other the next second, letting out all of their stress in a fit of childish giggles. When they moved back a little and caught a glimpse of the other’s face, they couldn’t do anything else but kiss, driven by the euphoria that had taken over them. There was nobody else around and they didn’t even need to check to be sure; not because they were already sure, but because they absolutely, immensely did not care at this precise moment.

Kuroo suddenly broke the kiss and stared wildly into Kei’s eyes. “I didn’t get you anything but I do want to celebrate this, so pardon my French, but would you like to go back inside and have the most vanilla sex we’ve ever had?”

Kei nodded affirmatively once, in a sharp tilt of his head. “I mean, obviously.”

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Kuroo’s mother kept slapping Kei’s thigh like she was trying to get his attention, but they were both staring right ahead at the stage where Kuroo was standing with the other graduates from his volleyball team. She knew it was going to happen soon, she felt it almost like a dog feels a storm coming.

Kei had told his boyfriend that this was the last scary thing that he’d ever have to do for school, but he had no reason to try to comfort him because Kuroo wasn’t freaking out. It had surprised his mother as well as Kei, but they were happy to see him so composed only a couple of minutes before he had to do some public speaking.

There were so many sports teams on the stage that Kei wondered if the old wooden structure would be able to take it. An important man, some kind of dean or principal, had just approached the microphone and was about to introduce the next speaker, who was currently making faces at his teammates. Kuroo had been asked to speak at graduation since he was the captain of their most successful team. It was a lot to bear and Kuroo had been working on his speech for what seemed to be a full month, but he was almost suspiciously calm on the fated day.

Kuroo’s mother held her breath as she watched her son walk to the front of the stage where he had to lift the microphone up quite a bit, getting a couple of laughs out of the audience. Kei hoped that the possibly-dean-individual didn’t feel too bad at indirectly being called short.

Tetsu cleared his throat and smiled brightly at the audience before he began speaking.

“Hello everybody, my name is Kuroo Tetsurou and one of my professors asked me to be here today as a spokesperson for the University's athletic association, but I'm telling you right now, this won't be about sports at all.

As I stand here today, I'm amazed by the possible paths we've all avoided in our lives so that we could successfully make it right here on this day. The things that were so close to happen to us but didn't, the things we almost did but didn't. I'm amazed by our luck.

I've heard once that we all make our own luck, and I agree with that. Someone who barely has any flaws, like someone whose only flaws are that they don't make their bed in the morning or that they don't cook really well, the kind of people who finishes their homework on the day they get it and works hard for everything they have, they often talk about how lucky they got. How lucky they were to understand, how lucky they were to stay motivated, how lucky they were to get good grades and to get the job they wanted. They made their own luck, because they made sure the odds would be in their favor, and what brings more luck than odds?

People who are flawed, like those who are insecure to the point of giving up, who are so lazy that they end up procrastinating to the last minute constantly, or those who are completely unmotivated, they sometimes can't believe how lucky they are.”

So far, the speech had been the exact same it had been for the 50 times Kuroo had rehearsed it the night before. Kei could almost speak the words in synch with him, that’s why he noticed that something was different right away.

“I, for example, am very lazy. When I say very, I mean that I was lazy enough to postpone something I had to do for my team for two whole weeks for no reason. That task did not require any mental energy whatsoever, but I still waited two weeks. In the two weeks that I spent ignoring the task, they hired a new employee at the place I had to go to, and when I finally went there and got it done, I met the love of my life. Hey babe!”

Kei’s facial muscles completely betrayed him by making him smile like he’d forgotten all the bad things in life. Nobody had the time to focus on where Kuroo’s gaze had been directed because he had only stretched the eye contact with Kei for a second. It had still conveyed all of Kuroo’s warmth and sneakiness in a masterful way.

“When you finish your homework on the due date, you look back at it and you think that it's not as bad as it could've been, you're lucky that it turned out this good. Sure, it's not as good as the guy who started on the first day, but you made it work. If you're insecure and unmotivated, you'll meet people and do things that will continuously prove you wrong and you'll wonder, again and again, how could I be this lucky? It's the same for bad luck, some just bring it on to themselves way more than others.

It all comes down to how high you aim and how much you ask of yourself. If you put the bar too high, you're doomed to either fail or succeed right on the bar. If you're reasonable from the start, you'll reach your own expectations or you'll surpass them like you never thought you could. You still might fail, but what tells you that it isn't the best thing that could ever happen to you? What if that's just your luck, and you'll realize how excellent it was only a month, a year, or a decade later? Keep setting the bar as high as you want and take pride in whatever happens.”

Kuroo marked a short pause, letting his gaze sweep the crowd who had started clapping at his words. He didn’t think there was anything special to them, he was just saying what he wished that more people would come to terms with.   

“See, we make our own luck, but what is luck really? Is it nothing but odds and hard work? I think so. But then, why do we make such a big deal out of it? Why do we pretend like we owe everything to luck, when luck owes everything to us?

If you just wait 5 more minutes, or if you take another exit; if you drive a little longer, or if you show up 20 minutes early; if you enter a place that you've never been to, or you take that chance you never thought you had, you could change the entire course of your life, you could completely transform your odds. The luck you make is yours to keep, it doesn't appear out of no where.

So never let anyone tell you that being lucky is the opposite of getting what you deserve. If they say that you only got where you are because you’re lucky, tell them they’re right. If they tell you that you were lucky to graduate, tell them they’re right. Tell those people that if this is your luck, then so be it. Nobody is lucky if they can't find a reason to be, and maybe it's enough to be proud of yourself because you made something that's just ok right before the due date.

Good luck to all of us, the flawed and the perfect, the over and the under achievers. Good luck to the class of 2017!”

 

-

 

They’d been cuddling in bed and laughing at old stories for almost an hour when Kuroo decided to bring his photo album in bed and go through it with Kei. Kuroo had something to say about every picture, making Kei laugh with all the stupid things he was bringing up. Kei had never really looked at the contents of the album since he knew that it had been a pretext since the start, but he had to admit that there was a lot of nice memories in there that he was very glad to have. There were pictures of everybody, Akaashi smiling at something Bokuto had said, Bokuto doing a hand stand, Hinata running away from seagulls on the beach, Kenma intensely sipping from a drink, Yamaguchi crossing his eyes to look at his nose and a couple pictures of Kei who had fallen asleep in places where you’re not supposed to fall asleep (sitting on the kitchen counter, on the table in the middle of board game, etc.). The second to last page had a picture of Kuroo kissing Kei’s forehead while they were laying down in bed, and even though there was nothing sexual about it, Kei felt like it was slightly inappropriate.

“On that picture,” Kei said, pointing at the picture even though there was no other photos to look at, “had we just…?”

Kuroo had a creepy smile that answered the question way before the man himself did. “Yeah,” he replied slyly, “can’t mistake that glow for anything else.”

“Are you sure you want everyone who sees this album to witness that _glow_ you’re talking about?” Kei asked, actually making air quotations around the word glow.

Kuroo only needed about 5 seconds to think about it before he took the picture out of the album and put it away in his bedside table’s drawer. “I get it, I’m keeping that one.”

Kei chuckled at his boyfriend’s realisation as he turned the page and saw the last picture of the album, a photo of them that had been taken earlier that day, right after Kuroo’s speech. Tetsurou’s mom had gotten the picture printed for them, so they’d put it in the album a couple hours earlier.

He startled Kuroo with how suddenly he spoke. “I can’t believe we met because you postponed something for two weeks,” Kei said, sounding like he’d lost all hope in the human race.

Kuroo laughed spontaneously, only leaving a kiss on the top of Kei’s head when he got it under control.  “You’re welcome, love,” he replied in a voice full of honey, making shivers bloom all over Kei’s skin.

Kei closed his eyes and sighed, feeling like he was going to be endlessly content. “I love you, my little disaster.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is where it ends. I hope this was up to everyone’s expectations, I know I wrote it following my vision. This is how I wanted to tell this story, and I’m really happy to have finally done it. These 30 chapters, these 100,000 words, this love story took me an entire year to write, and some people might say it’s time I’m never going to get back, but I know that it’s time I don’t want back. I’m feeling so complete, so accomplished now that I’ve done this. I’m grateful that I could get some people abroad with me for this year, because even though 2016 was absolute shit, at least I had my readers to make me feel better. Now that this is done, I’m going to embark on other projects and I’ll stay around. I’m not going anywhere.
> 
> I’m not excluding the idea to ever write a second part to this story, I’ve had a couple of ideas for this in the last months, but I won’t write it unless you guys really want it. At the same time, I’d like to just leave this story like this because I like it as it is. I’ll see how I feel later.
> 
> Thanks to each and every one of you for your unwavering support, you literally changed how I see myself as someone who writes for fun and allows herself to feel confident about it. This story, like I’ve said before, is like my baby, and it will always stay my baby. Maybe it won’t age well, maybe I’ll read it again in a couple of years and I’ll cringe, but right now, in December of 2016, I am proud beyond words.
> 
> Thank you all for helping me, you all had a part to play in making this possible. Special thanks to those who have supported me outside of this site, those who have reached out to me to talk about my writing and my future plans and those who have literally drawn fucking art for this fic (still not over this). I’m not even kidding when I say that some of you made me cry.
> 
> All the love, Sandy, Mom or Val xxx
> 
> Follow me on [tumblr](http://sandgoddess.tumblr.com) for more general nonsense


End file.
